


Kitten Troubles

by Ttiiggeerr



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Complete, Dark Harry Potter, Dark Lord Harry Potter, Demon Harry, M/M, Somewhat Good Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-07
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 11:18:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 39,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20388841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ttiiggeerr/pseuds/Ttiiggeerr
Summary: During the Final Battle Voldemort is turned into a kitten and Harry takes him home thinking he's a homeless, motherless kitten. Will Voldemort stay like this forever? Will Harry figure out who it is? And what will happen when he finds himself caring about the one person he was supposed to hate? WARNING: male/male relationships, Dark!Harry, demons, Dumbledore bashing, Demon!Harry





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Damn it Potter, why won't you just die?" Voldemort had been screaming things similar to this since he had invaded the castle with his Death Eaters. He had watched again and again as the stupid child just kept deflecting his curses, not taking a single hit. And really, the only reason he wanted him dead so badly anymore was because he had baffled him and stumped him as to why he wouldn't die; him, nothing but a helpless babe, had defied the laws of mortality and Voldemort just couldn't let the one weakness he had bother him anymore. The idiotic child must die.

"Perhaps because I don't want to die you piece of slime!" Voldemort just barely had enough time to process what had been said before a spell had been cast his way and something hard hit him in the head.

Harry had cast a transfiguration spell at the piece of gunk slowly advancing on him as if an invisible force were driving him and had seen Neville throw some type of plant towards the very person his spell was headed towards. 

And the next thing anyone knew, the almighty Voldemort disappeared.

It was a few seconds later when Harry noticed that the sounds and chaos around him had grown to epic proportions, and it was in trying to hear what Lupin was yelling at him when he heard the distressed mewls of a kitten.

He turned on the spot and saw a small fluffy animal trying to take cover and escape all of the curses and spells flying around it. Harry couldn't leave the cat there, not something so small and innocent as a poor little kitten. 

It's mother had probably already kicked him out, he looked large enough. And even if not, his mother was most likely either dead or had left him here in favor of safety. Harry made a mad dash to the ball of fur and managed to get away from the castle and the fighting with it safely encased in his embrace.

When the two of them reached the grounds Harry summoned his broom and other belongings. Once he had them he shrunk his trunk and cast weight-reducing charms before taking off into the night sky with the kitten held firmly in his arms.

That arrangement was quickly scrapped as the kitten practically clawed his arms off fairly quickly and thoroughly. He tucked him into an inner pocket in his robes and took off, letting his inner seeker test the limitations on his trusted broomstick.

A few hours later Harry landed on a balcony and walked into his rooms through the french doors. He resized and weighted everything before setting them down in the middle of the floor, trusting a house elf to manage the trunk and cage. The elves knew enough to stay away from his broom, as he took care of her himself. They learned their lesson after the first elf made that mistake. They still didn't know what had happened to him.

He took the kitten out of his robes and placed him on his large bed before peeling off all of his wet clothing-which was basically everything. He pulled on a big fluffy bathrobe before sitting next to the cat.

"Well hello there mister trouble-seeker. I suppose I should ask you if you can understand me." He watched at the cat nodded, seemingly shocked at the events. "All right, and I'm assuming this isn't your animagus form since you could just change back if it were." A shake of the head this time. 

"Okay. I'm going to ask you to stay on the bed so you don't hurt yourself while I take a bath. Unless you'd like to join me, you do look a little grimy." The grey-haired cat shook his head hesitantly, as if the thought of being clean was promising but the bath part was daunting. "I'll give you a bath in the sink later, how about that?" The head nodded enthusiastically after a moment of deliberation. Apparently it took a moment for the cat to realize that the odds of him sinking and drowning in a sink were drastically less than a bathtub.

Harry walked out of the room and through a door without another word, leaving it ajar, to go and soak in the hot water infused with lilac and vanilla that he knew would be waiting for him.

When he was done he got out and threw on the robe, not bothering to dry himself off, and picked the small animal up off his bed. He was slightly surprised to see that the creature had not disobeyed him and had stayed on the bed. In fact, it looked like the only moving it did was moving from the sitting position to the lying position he found him in when he walked out of the bathroom.

He took the kitten to the sink and filled it with warm water before setting him down on the counter, waiting for him to get in on his own. When he did, which didn't take long, he picked up his vanilla-scented shampoo and started gently rubbing it into the soft fur to remove all of the dust and grime the battlefield had given the poor little thing. He found himself wondering why a kitten, of all animals, would be smack in the middle of a war.

He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts and focused on the task in front of him.

When the feline was finally clean, he took a small hand towel and dried the poor thing off. He genuinely felt bad that the animal had been stuck between two armies in the midst of a war and felt the overwhelming need to comfort the furball. It might not have been his fault that it chose that particular place to be in, but he was going to make sure that the cat got everything it needed to have a decent life-much unlike the one he had when he had grown up.

Voldemort wondered how in the hell he'd been landed in this position. Being washed by the Boy-Who-Defied-Dying and loving every second of it. He couldn't help it, his hands were so gentle and were massaging his entire body and that shampoo just smelled so good...

He shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts from his mind and managed to get soap bubbles all over his nemesis. He couldn't help but smirk when he saw a big glob of them on his nose. His smirk disappeared fairly quickly when he noticed that Potter wasn't mad but laughing. 

Laughing! He couldn't believe the boy had the audacity to do that! No one dared laugh at Voldemort!

Well, he was a kitten right now, after all. And he wasn't even white! He was a nasty greyish color and he hated every second of it. 

When he was finally rinsed off and dried, he found himself being carried to the bed again and sat there passively while the boy got a pair of light colored silk pajama pants on and slid into the sheets.

"Come on kitten, come here." He looked over his shoulder at the tired-looking Potter and took pity on him. He would be that tired as well if he hadn't taken a cat nap while he was taking a shower, but he refused to go to him. And besides, sleeping with the enemy was out of the question. Unless...

Unless he managed to make him care so much that if he ran away the boy would be so devastated that he would do anything to get him back and would be so distraught that he'd be distracted and Voldemort could finally kill the little menace!

That's what he needed to do...But in order to make him care he had to pretend to be a loving cat. Brilliant. Just what he wanted to do.

He reluctantly crawled over to the hand that was spread out across the bed and was taken by surprise when he realized that Potter had pulled him to his chest. Which was quite warm and to his liking. He dozed off so quickly after he had those thoughts that he didn't have enough time to process what had run through his mind.

The next morning he woke up to silk sheets and a drowsy Potter.

"Morning kitten." His voice was raspy but Voldemort found that he didn't mind much. He didn't mind much of anything when he was a cat, it seemed. He just let things happen as they happened. What was the point when you were going to get to kill the most annoying twat in the universe soon? He yawned as a greeting.

Their morning went fairly ordinarily. Until Voldemort saw a tiny glint of sunlight being reflected off of something shiny on the vanity across the room.

He immediately crouched and stalked his prey, his tail twitching slightly. He remained like that for a minute before jumping onto the table and then crouched down briefly before pouncing on the shiny object and started biting it almost immediately. Somehow, it wriggled it's way out of his paws and landed at Potter's feet, who promptly covered it just before Voldemort landed on it.

So instead of his prey being scratched to death, it was Potter's hand. He stopped his mindless attack and looked up, almost afraid the much larger body would kick him out the door to let him fend for himself. And he most certainly did NOT need that. He backed up and sat there, looking up at him with wide eyes, his ears down and trying his best to look like an innocent puffball.

Potter just looked at him with disappointment written all over his face.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it, but attacking my favorite heirloom from my mother isn't nice. Don't let me catch you doing it again." He put the shiny thing, which he now recognized as a delicately made necklace, in a box on his dresser before walking out of the room. "Are you coming? I'm making breakfast." At the mention of food, Voldemort was immediately intrigued and he followed eagerly.

They ate their eggs and milk in silence, with the only noises being those of the two eating. It wasn't awkward like Voldemort thought it would be, but then again he should be used to the slippery demon surprising him. What did surprise him was the Vampire Lord walking through the door.

"My Lord Viper!" Voldemort jumped at the sudden and loud noise. "I have good news!" He noticed Potter straighten up immediately, which took down the glamours he used to make himself look like an innocent boy. He now looked much different than the boy Voldemort was used to seeing.

This Potter was full of confidence and had a commanding presence. His hair was to his thighs and had emerald green and dark violet streaks through it. His glasses were gone, replaced by bright blue irises and his skin was the color of freshly fallen snow.

"It had better be good this time, or you won't see the darkness of night for a month." The vampire paled, but continued nonetheless.

"We managed to gather the banshees of the south to our cause along with the giants. We're working on converting the werewolves in the north and there's a few other groups that we're almost done converting as well." The smile that was returned to him was eerie and reminded him of himself...wait what cause?

"Very good. Now go find something useful to do before I use my newest experiment on you." The vampire was gone before Voldemort had time to even blink. "Ah...Dumbledore won't know what hit him. Now it's just a matter of making a madman talk to me rather than fire off curses at the first chance he sees. Plans must be made my companion. Feel free to explore." He disappeared into a corridor to the left and Voldemort was left feeling very full and very confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry walked off at a fast pace and managed to locate his study fairly quickly. He had many plans that needed to be perfected before he went back to school and he wasn't too sure he could get them done in time. The sooner he started, the better off he'd be. He only had a few more hours before he'd be missed.

Maps and many different colored inks littered his desk and many other tables that he had conjured just for all the extra maps and parchments and letters that he had been receiving from his spies. Much better than either Dumbledore's or Voldemort's spies, too. No one suspected his spies, but conspiracies and suspicions were high with the other two. He laughed quietly and took his reading glasses off when he heard the clock chime one. 

He needed to get back and he needed to do it soon if he wanted to get there before they'd notice his absence.

As he was reviewing his work, he felt an owl fly through the window. He looked and knew that Earl was here to tell him that the battle was done and both sides were looking for their dead and missing. He nodded and the owl flew back out as he left to find the kitten that had started meowing.

He was stuck on a stair. It would figure that the creature would try to climb the one set of stairs that he had charmed to let only himself climb. He didn't need anyone up in his private section of the castle, and he hadn't remembered to tell the cat not to climb any stairs. He shook his head and went to get the feline before apparating to the Forbidden Forest.

The cat wasn't phased in the slightest, leading him to believe that he'd done it before. He shook the thought off, put his glasses on, and threw the Invisibility cloak over the two of them before making sure his glamours were in place. The cat was in his pocket again and he told it to be quiet before entering the castle.

He made it up to the third floor where he glamoured the two of them to look like they'd just walked away from the fiercest thing they'd ever been through.

"Act stunned," was the only warning he gave to the feline before taking the cloak off and spelling it to his trunk. He stumbled off towards the stairs, being sure to look like he was injured and trying to hide it.

"Harry!" He saw the bushy-haired girl running to him, her head bleeding profusely, and a redhead following her closely.

"Ron, Hermione needs to go to Pomfrey. She's bleeding." At the mention of Hermione needing medical attention, he quickly took her and redirected her momentum down the stairs and to the Great Hall. He pulled the cat out of his pocket and stumbled down two more flights of stairs before seeing one Severus Snape. The Potions Master quickly glanced around the corridor and pulled him into an unused room that looked as if it was about to collapse.

"My Lord Viper." He bowed. "How can I be of assistance?" The cat hissed and reached out with a clawed paw, intent on doing some damage. Harry put him back in his pocket, glad that it was too small to climb back out.

"I never left. I was upstairs and was knocked unconscious. Right now you're giving me a few potions to return me to full health and will request that I be taken to your house-slightly unwillingly, of course-for better protection. Hiding in the most obviously hidden place to look." Severus nodded and Harry smiled.

"I can always count on you Severus." He got a smile from the older man and they left the room together, Severus carrying him. He closed his eyes and evened out his breathing so it looked as if he was asleep.

The next two hours were spent in some form of closed-off room serving as the headquarters for Dumbledore and the Order. He listened intently to Severus arguing with the others about where Harry should stay and then he heard the potentially fatal silence that signaled his deep thinking, philosophical mode. He was totally fine until the entire room burst into protest at Severus's suggestion that he come with him to Spinner's End. He had trouble not laughing.

In the end it was decided that Harry be the one to choose when he woke up, and he chose to 'sleep' for a little while longer. He felt Severus prying in his mind for a moment and told him to stall for a bit. He did, most exceptionally.

He thought it was about half an hour later when he opened his eyes and found himself in a chair that was rather comfortable for how it looked. All eyes were on him, most in worry and concern. Severus was, of course, amused and in the back so no one would notice his lack of hatred.

"My boy, I have some bad news and a choice for you." And so he had to sit and listen for the longest amount of time. He was almost certain that Dumbledore was taking his time so he'd agree to whatever the old man wanted.

"Look Professor, I understand what has happened. And what I don't I can fill the holes with intuition and inferring. Don't beat around the bush and just tell me already." Everyone gasped, they'd never seen Harry stand up to Dumbledore before-or anyone for that matter. He seemed to take it in stride though, and told him rather promptly what Severus had offered. He sat there and pretended to think about his answer carefully.

"It seems like the logical option, doesn’t it? If I go with someone that Voldemort knows I'm comfortable with then when he looks for me with them he'll find me sooner. If I go with someone that I'm supposed to hate, then he won't ever dream of looking for me there." He then drifted off to sleep and let the conversation go where it may. He didn't want to listen to the rest.

It was deemed that Harry would, indeed go with Severus and the two flooed away immediately.

When they got to Spinner's End, Potter aparated the two of them to his place, leaving Severus to get back to his potions and books, and put Voldemort down on the dining room table while he got dinner. They ate rice and chicken, something that he enjoyed greatly-even in this new cat form.

"I'm going to my study. Are you coming with me or are you going to try and climb more stairs?" He quickly shook his head, appalled at the idea of getting stuck again. He followed Potter through a few corridors and several rooms before he finally sat down behind a desk and several other tables. 

He tried to get up so he could see what he was doing, but he couldn't jump high enough. Potter quickly realized this and lifted him up to his eye level.

"You knock anything over or spill any ink and I'll have your hide for a hat." He nodded his understanding and was promptly set on a small spot where there wasn't any parchment or ink or quills. His eyes widened as he saw all of the maps, letters, inquiries, pots of ink, quills, and charms that were most commonly sold to young witches hoping that their best friends would like them.

He watched Potter work in quiet, his eyes going from letter to letter and moving different charms to different maps and labeling different places with different colors of ink. Eventually he laid down for a change of position, gently nudging a bottle of ink slightly so he wouldn't knock it over on accident. The last thing he needed was to knock over all that ink on the work that Potter had clearly spend hours and hours on.

"I suppose you'd like to know what I'm doing." He nodded, his eyes half closed. It was quite warm where he was, and he didn't know how to make his eyes open fully if he'd just be teased with not knowing anything that was going on.

He dozed while Potter told him all about the little war that he had started with Dumbledore and how he had been slammed into it. The only thing that really caught his attention was the hatred that saturated his voice during the entire monologue.

"So I got fed up and started my own side. I really don't want fighting and it seems to me that Dumbledore is looking for trouble. Between his dealings with the Ministry and Voldemort, I'm amazed that he hasn't died already." He turned back in. "So I've gathered quite a few different spies, much better than anyone could ever hope to have, and have had them run around finding me followers and information. With all of this I can keep track of who we've recruited, who rejected us, who we're working on recruiting, and who's on whose side. It's really quite handy, actually."

Voldemort had been at full attention by now and was rapidly putting two and two together. It was all making sense now, why neither side seemed to gain the support of several different groups. Why neither side ever seemed to have an advantage over the other.

"And every time I want to talk to that blasted man, he just starts firing hexes! He's never really put in much thought into his plans when it comes to where he is, so I guess that's why he never noticed that I try to get him by himself. But really. I'm trying to do him a favor and he's just throwing curses at me, trying to kill me! It's absolutely unnecessary." Potter looked at him with a small smile. "That's what I've been doing lately. Trying to figure out a way to make the idiot listen to me." He watched as the boy got up and walked over to a bookshelf, eyeing one particularly old-looking book. "If only he knew what I'm capable of. He'd never try to kill me again, the dolt."

He bristled at that comment and wondered just what had to happen when the boy hadn't been in school to make him so ruthless and hungry for revenge and power over everyone. The thought ran through his mind just before Potter started talking again.

"I mean, it's not like I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing and what I want and what I need and if that man fires one more blasted hex my way, I swear I'm just going to take him hostage, consequences be fucking damned!" Voldemort was astonished by the cussing that Potter just did–he never cussed. Not even on the battlefield.

This sudden burst of anger and irritation clearly wasn't even a quarter of what the boy was truly feeling.

A few hours later found Potter sleeping on his paperwork. Voldemort wondered why he hadn't thought to ask for help before and decided that there was no time like the present. The boy looked like he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon so he grabbed a blank sheaf of parchment and a bottle of ink and started working.

Two hours later he wanted the stupid thing to burn. He couldn't make anything look decent and had to revert to a childish writing, nothing like his normal calligraphy that he was used to seeing. He shook his head and forced himself to be happy with what he had managed to make his paws write out in the sticky ink. Now he just had to wait and not move from this spot. He refused to get ink on anything but the parchment that he used.

He started meowing pitifully after another hour. He was tired and just wanted to be cleaned up so he didn't have to stay in such a confined area. He was stiff and sore and just wanted to go explore and do something. And then he saw something glittery on Potter's ear.

He had to force his eyes closed so he wouldn't pounce and didn't like the fact that he was having issues keeping his body under his control. He meowed louder. Eventually the boy woke up.

"What? What do you want?" Voldemort opened his eyes, glad that the distracting object was gone and out of sight. He looked deliberately down at the parchment and watched as Potter read his childish writing.

"So, you say you're Voldemort. Well, I'm quite pleased that you can't do much damage like this. Now, do I have to put you in a cage or are you going to behave?" He rolled his eyes and looked at himself before raising his gaze back to the clearly-larger male. "Fine. Come on, you're full of ink."

He was carefully carried to a counter in the kitchen and started purring when Potter gently cleaned his paws off. He didn't know why but his touch calmed him and just felt so good. He shook his head but didn't try to stop the purring. In for a spell, in for a wand.

"So, why are you a kitten?" He hung his head and let himself be carried to the dining room table.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on Severus's face. Soon enough, the man was in front of him, bowing yet again. "Yes, Lord Viper? What can I do for you?"

"Find out what plant Voldemort was hit with. I watched Neville Longbottom throw something in a pot at him, but I couldn't see what it was."

"Yes, Lord Viper. I shall find out as quickly as I can." He turned promptly and Harry knew that his mind was spinning with questions as to why it was clearly one of the most important things that was on his mind.

"Oh, and Severus?" He turned and looked at him quizzically. "Make sure suspicions and questions about my health are avoided if possible and brushed off if not." Severus nodded and left with a swish of his robes.

Harry could see the confusion in the kitten's face and decided not to explain what any of it was about. He was tired enough as it was, he wouldn't be able to even imagine what he would feel like after explaining his entire upbringing and why he had two forms and names and all the other things he knew he'd need to explain at some point. Instead of thinking about it any further, he plopped into the chair gracelessly and put his head in his hands.

"No sleep is going to kill me sooner or later." He got up without another word and picked Voldemort up, carrying him to his room before putting on his pajama bottoms and collapsing into his bed. He was asleep before he got the chance to say anything to the feline.

When he woke up, it was still dark out, and quickly realized that he had slept through the entire day. He laid back down and slept until four in the morning. The next time he woke up, he got the kitten up with him and went to make breakfast. He was famished and the cat had to be as well.

Breakfast was simple, milk and sausage for the two of them. He wasn't up to cooking much more and they both enjoyed the simplicity more than either one of them thought they would.

The day was spent with Harry writing more on his maps and Voldemort sitting on the corner of his desk. He could feel the questions and curiosity rolling off the furball in waves, crashing over him and breaking his concentration.

"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH! Here, read this." He went to his bookshelf and grabbed the oldest looking book that he had been looking at with such an intensity that both were surprised that the book hadn't disintegrated in front of them a few days before. He put it on the floor and opened it to the first chapter.

He watched as the kitten hopped off the table and went to read the giant tomb, glad that he wouldn't be staring at him anymore and that he'd finally be able to figure out what Harry was.

Because Harry wasn't human. It was one of the reasons that he could be as cunning and secretive and powerful as he was. He was clearly inhuman and it astonished him that no one had been able to figure that out. People knew he wasn't normal, but they all chalked it up to being the 'boy-who-lived' and all that garbage.

Harry focused on his maps once again, putting another charm on another dot with another town name.

Eventually he told a house elf to get them something to eat for lunch. He wasn't too hungry, but he knew that Voldemort had to be. When the food came, the ball of fur started to devour it.

Harry felt someone walk through the wards to his property and he quickly released his glamours that made him look like the innocent little boy that stood for the light. Having to use the glamours for so long, the energy needed to keep them up no longer affected him. He was now himself, not quite entirely, but as close as he'd get when he wasn't declared separate from Dumbledore.

Severus walked through the door and they went through overly-proper pleasantries. Soon afterwards, Severus confessed that he would do as much research as he could to find out what Longbottom had thrown at the Dark Lord, as the boy himself couldn't remember.

He thanked him and watched as he left the room. Disappointment flooded his bloodstream and was soon replaced by determination. He turned abruptly and swept to the bookshelves. He pulled out a few books, quickly rifling through them and discarding them almost as quickly as he was picking them up. This was going to frustrate him to no end, he just knew it.

He searched for an answer for days, with little to no sleep each night. Voldemort was more than comfortable to take cat naps on the floor next to the book that Harry had so kindly put out for his reading.

Eventually he found a book that looked promising and he spent quite a few hours reading until he figured out that it wouldn't help him at all. He continued his search, desperate to turn the kitten back into a man again. He wanted to get him on Harry's side so he could get his revenge on the old man that ruined his childhood. But he couldn't do that if Voldemort was a bloody cat!

Severus came and went, notifying him of his discoveries and disappointments. He got mad a few times and more often than not he was being told what he already knew. He was getting impatient and he was getting there rather quickly.

Harry didn't quit doing everything else he was doing before, though. He was still mapping things out and still holding frequent meetings in the dining room at mealtimes. The first time he had his followers come while having the kitten around was interesting. He had dubbed the cat 'Silver' on the spot and warned them that if any harm should come to him that heads would roll and followers would become test subjects. They took the threat very seriously, even if some had looked at him as if they wanted to be petted instead of the cat.

Harry shivered at the thought and continued to read.

He had plowed through his entire library and half of the second when he came across something rather helpful. A book on herbology plants and their rare effects when mixed with spells. How convenient. It even had an entire section to plants and transfiguration being combined. He was amazed at the amount of content and information that he found in it-he didn't like to dabble with plants too much unless it was in potions simply because they could be extremely unpredictable when alive and kicking.

He found what he was looking for, though and that's what was important.

He sat down with his legs crossed, not bothering to keep his glamours up anymore. This was, after all, his true form and it only drained his energy to keep up the appearances. Besides, Silver seemed to enjoy playing with his hair on the floor. As long as the cat didn't chew it off, he was fine with it-it didn't distract him any from his research.

Eventually, as in two weeks later, Harry finally found something helpful to him. He summoned a bit of parchment and started writing down everything that could help him. Another week later found him still on the floor staring at the notes he had taken. Every little bit of helpful piece of information had been gleaned from his books and Severus's research and now he just had to figure out how to make everything work out in his favor.

It was seriously starting to try his patience. Especially since Severus had to take him back to Spinner's End to keep up the appearances everyone needed to qualm their fears that Harry had somehow been poisoned by the Potions Master. It was starting to really annoy him that he had to keep cutting into precious research time to keep the front.

Not only did he have to start cancelling meetings and having more frequent one-on-one's with his followers to keep up with what was happening, he was now behind on his paperwork and he hadn't had time to test out any of his new tricks. It was infuriating, to say the least.

He shook his head and yawned. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't gotten any sleep within the past few weeks. He'd been so absorbed in his work that eventually he'd started to draw on the energy of his followers when they came in. It was high time that he take a nap.

Before he could even think about protesting his body's sudden need for rest, his head was cradled in his arms and he was sleeping on the floor of his study.

When he woke up, he knew that he'd been asleep for about eighteen hours. An especially long time for him.

He sat up and let his body crack and pop back into place, feeling an immense rush of power and energy. He got up and went to the kitchen to make something to eat, not even noticing that Silver was nowhere to be seen. When he reached the kitchen, he saw Severus and Silver both eating at the table. It seems that he owed Severus a thanks.

"You've been feeding Silver?" Severus nodded and he nodded his thanks back to him. He made his own breakfast and sat down with them. The three of them were done and Harry stood to leave them. Silver followed him but he felt Severus leave his wards soon after.

He sat back down and started to reread his notes when the answer was suddenly ambushing his mind. He stood and as he did a table, cauldron, and several other things started appearing in quick succession.

"Brilliant!" He got to work immediately.

When he finished the fourth potion, he decided that enough was enough and sat down. It had been another two days with no sleep for him and he was starting to draw so much energy from everyone else that some of his followers had taken to napping in the dining room before leaving. He took a four hour nap with Silver purring on his legs.

When he woke up, he was surprised to find that Silver was still on his lap. He gently woke the feline up and smiled as the cat glared at him sleepily.

"I think I found the solution to your little problem." The ears perked up almost immediately. "Now, I have two different solutions and both of them have antidotes if they don't work the way they were supposed to. I thought you'd like to decide which one you'd like to try." Silver's head went back and forth between the two of them and finally landed on the purplish one rather than the blue one.

He opened the flask and watched carefully as Voldemort drank the entire contents. When he started to cough and he saw his tongue turned fuzzy, he gave him the antidote almost immediately. He knew that one of them would do something along those lines, so he gave him the blue one.

"I don't blame you for looking apprehensive, but you need to drink it." He did, albeit reluctantly. Slowly, the cat started turning into a person again, and with a sudden pop, a full-grown man was sitting in his lap.

Harry jumped up, and by consequence dropped Voldemort on the floor, and started jumping up and down around the room.

"Yes! I did it! Yes yes yes yes yes! I finally did it!" He celebrated through the house and ended up in the living room where all of his followers were situated. Needless to say, he fixed his appearance as soon as he saw his followers and got down to business.

He went through the entire meeting without a single complaint and actually smiled once. He could tell his followers were getting concerned for their safety-they knew better than to fear for his sanity. They all knew that he had very little left. Well, so they thought. He was actually just powerful enough to do whatever he wanted and get away with it and that kind of power would go to anyone's head a little bit every once in a while.

Voldemort was wise and stayed in the study to look at the books while Harry held his meeting. Oddly enough, it didn't take that long so it was only an hour or so before Harry was back at his desk and writing like mad once again.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry zoomed through his paperwork and finished faster than he ever had before. He had no need for sleep when he was done, but he was extremely hungry. He stood and walked past a few bookshelves before seeing Voldemort on a chair reading the book he had set out for him as a kitten.

"Do you want something to eat?" The snake-like man stood silently and put the book down, using a coaster to hold his place.

The walk to the kitchen took no time at all and pretty soon Harry had two steaks done perfectly, both medium rare, and wine was poured into two separate glasses. They ate the main course silently. Only when Harry took the dishes to the kitchen and came back with desert did they talk.

"How are you? You seem dazed." Harry sat and poured the two of them another glass of wine as Voldemort looked up.

"I don't know what to think. I've never expected anything this crazy from you. I was thrown into being a cat, that bothered me. If I had a choice I would have at least picked an Eagle or something. Not a bloody cat. And then I was all hyper and wanted to do things and it took every ounce of my strength and determination not to attack your ear one day, and I really don't know what to think anymore! You helped me. You, knowing who I was, decided to help me. Why? And what's with Severus and all the other people? Why are they treating you better than they treat me?" Harry stopped him.

"Eat your desert while I talk, all right? I know what it's like to be thrust into something that you don't want to do. I never wanted to be a part of this bloody war and yet here I am. And now that I'm here I'm trying to make the best of it, although pretending to be someone I most definitely am NOT is seriously aggravating at times. That's why I wanted to help you. As for why my followers treat me better than they do you, that's simply because I'm more powerful than you. I could do things to them that would make anyone faint for weeks on end. And they know it. But I also reward them. Most generously too.

"Now, I know you must be wondering why I have followers at all. Simple. I'm sick and tired of fighting. I don't want to be on Dumbledore's side because he's done more damage than good. Encouraging seventh years to fight...preposterous! Most of them die within minutes while their parents either survive without them or put themselves in harm's way to get to their child. Idiotic. Nor did I want to work for you. Yes, I believe in punishment, but I also think that rewards go just as far as threats. Sometimes even farther."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "How can you argue that?"

"Eat. Is it better to love your ruler or to fear them?"

"That's a muggle saying anyways. How should I know?" Voldemort shrugged, as he had expected he would.

"Foolish!" Harry's voice was like a whip. "This is why you never get farther than Albus! Both of you are too blindsighted to see what's right in front of you!" He calmed himself. "It's a riddle with no right answer. The answer is in the riddle. It is not one or the other that is the perfect balance, but a healthy mix of the two. Your followers and subjects have to fear you to a degree so they don't make the same mistake twice. But they have to love you to be willing to do what you ask of them and to have a decent, long-lasting relationship with them.

"I seem to recall your followers had quite a few deserters, supposedly of your most trusted Inner Circle being just the beginning. You hurt them less than the others, but I'd say that almost half of your surviving Death Eaters were sought out and killed for treason or abandonment-isn't that right? If I disappeared for that long then I can guarantee that most if not all of them would come back to me. They don't ask questions because I'm not foolish with their lives." Voldemort looked taken aback.

"Now see here-"

"No I will not. You have not listened to me in the many years that I've tried to talk to you without curses and hexes aimed at the both of us. So now I'm giving you no chance to talk unless I want an answer. I want an alliance with you and your followers. In other words, I will either take over your ranks by force or you can hand over your alliance to me. I have more intel, better spies, the best assassins, endless supplies of information, and a position that you cannot deny. I'm right in Dumbledore's company most of the time."

"What will I get in return?"

"Basically, you'll keep command of your Death Eaters. But I reserve the right to punish or reward them as I see fit. Any traitors shall be made an example to the others and I have final say on who dies and who does not. No one shall join unless I say so. Other than that, you can remain in charge of your troops. Basically, you'd be second-in-command and I'd be the Head Honcho, if that makes it easier to understand."

He stood and smiled at Voldemort, his heart wishing that it didn't have to be that way. That he didn't have to be this cold. When he spoke next, his voice was soft and kind.

"I'll let you think on it. Tell me when you have an answer. Oh, and your bedroom is next to the library." He turned and walked away, letting his hair flow behind him as Severus's robes billow around his person, sadness piercing his heart and an impenetrable darkness following in his wake.

Voldemort didn't know what to think when he saw Harry walk away. He was overwhelmed with what he was just told-giving up his power wasn't what he'd worked his whole life for and yet given all the evidence, Harry was the one with more connections and knowledge at how to win this bloody war. 

He was torn.

As he watched the hair whip around the corner and into the corridor, he   
noticed the blackness so dark it was impossible to make out any form, shape or shadow anymore. He stared, intrigued and curious as to what could make that possible. He hadn't detected the other using magic, so that left either one hell of a dark corridor-which he knew it wasn't-or Harry Potter was some sort of dark creature.

And that would make sense. How many times had Voldemort seen Harry and know that he had been awake for yet another night? How many times did he wake from a nap, expecting the boy to be sleeping on the floor and had been baffled to see him as alert as he had been during the battle that he had saved him from? How many rolls of parchment had he seen him go through in a day? How many times did he wonder how he was able to keep the short-haired glamours up so effortlessly?

Now it added up, but only because he had simply opened his eyes.

Lost in his thoughts, he wandered around the ground floor. No need to be caught in the stairs and there wasn't any will to go anywhere. He just wanted to walk around a bit while letting his thoughts wander. It was only by chance that he happened to look outside the large french doors he had ended up in front of. They led to a garden of sorts, and he proceeded to the outside world rather eagerly.

It had been so long since he'd smelled anything so sweet. So long since he'd wanted to even consider going outside just for the pleasure of walking around in a garden. It had been so very long and he loved it.

The smell was intoxicating. Roses and daisies and wildflowers grew everywhere and little monkey faces littered the pathway. The grass was perfectly manicured, but longer than most people liked grass to be. Small stepping stones were in place along the edges of the path so one wouldn't have to walk through mud if the ground was too soggy. The tasteful and comfortable looking stone benches were placed every so often along the path and fountains were everywhere. Tiny little twinkle lights made the entire area surrounding him light up with a dazzling brilliance.

Everything was lavish and luxurious yet not overdone. It was tasteful but simple at the same time. He was finally able to think in peace and without letting his emotions get the better of him.

Harry had given him enough to figure out that he needed to open his eyes to what was painfully obvious, so did that mean that he'd been giving him hints to something else as well? What could he possibly be meant to find out, and was there anything to find out at all? What if he was overthinking this? But what if he wasn't overthinking it?

He decided to go along with the assumption that Harry had been giving him clues and hints to something so he started to think about everything that he had noticed about the other.

He was pleasant company. That thought wasn't much help and he shook his head. He had a terrible habit of staying up extra long hours-even days-to get to the bottom of a mystery. He always had energy, no matter how long he'd been up and how many things he had to do.

He was extremely focused. Voldemort had only seen two people so dedicated to being focused on one thing and one thing only. One was Severus Snape and the other was himself. The darkness that followed him earlier-now that was interesting and definitely worth remembering. He deemed it of great importance.

He noticed that Harry hadn't let anyone so much as look at his books, yet he had let him read what was clearly the oldest and most valuable book that he had in that study. Why?

That book was special, he just knew it. But whatever made it special had either escaped his attention or he hadn't gotten there yet. He knew that it had to hold some very valuable information, as each chapter was written by a different species about that particular race and all of the customs and behaviors and whatnots that most people wouldn't think important to know or would think that common knowledge was correct.

Was there possibly something specific in that book that Potter had wanted him to read?

He recalled a ribbon sticking out of one of the pages towards the back of the book and came to the conclusion that he would need to see what the ribbon was marking and if it was of any significance. He stood and took his leave from the gardens in favor of getting to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible.

Two hours later Voldemort found himself completely immersed in the text. He hadn't found anything that could help him, nothing at all. Once again, he wondered what the ribbon was marking and decided that enough was enough. This was one book that he just wouldn't read in order, that's all. The thought irked him but not knowing what Potter was up to was throwing him off more than he'd ever admit-even to himself.

When he finished with the chapter he saw a figure walk slowly by the door. He squinted, just barely making out the long hair that he identified as Potter's. No one he'd ever seen had hair that long. It was simply too hard for most people to manage.

When he looked closer, he saw that the hallway was pitch black, but it was an unnatural blackness. He saw the figure slow and stop in front of the massive doorway and turn to look in. He knew that if he could make out features, he'd be looking right into Potter's eyes right now. And as creepy as that sounded, he found himself even more unsure and creeped out than before. He knew what the Potter boy was and he knew that Potter knew that he knew. He could feel it, but he could also feel his own apprehension and fear slowly make their ways to the surface from so deep within his body he forgot that he could feel those emotions at all. Apparently his body was fully intending to show him just how much he could feel those feelings.

Potter must have felt his fear, because he pulled his head out of the room and straightened, no longer leaning on the door jam. He hastened away, the blackness that had surrounded him disappearing as he walked by. 

Voldemort took a deep breath and put the book down on the floor, noticing how his hands trembled. Voldemort took another deep breath and nodded once to himself. He needed to talk to Potter about what was going on and he needed to do that before he could even consider thinking about the offer that Potter had given him about his troops and loyalties. He just had to.

It wasn't even like it made sense. All he knew was that he needed answers and somehow those answers took over all of his priorities and every single spot in his mind. He just couldn't escape the feeling that he needed to talk to the other man about this, and he needed to do it now. It wasn't a choice that he had, more like a compulsion. An action that he couldn't control.

So when he found himself walking towards the dining room table where he knew that Potter was, he wasn't too surprised to find that no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't get his feet to stop or turn in another direction-anywhere but towards Potter.

His body didn't listen to him.

Which was just as well. He knew that his body hadn't responded as well as his old one and that it would get worse, but he had no idea just how insanely suicidal this newer body was. Now he had a pretty good idea that he didn't want to find out just how insane the actions of this body could be.

Although he couldn't control where his feet were taking him, with a determination Voldemort himself didn't feel, he found that he could still move his eyes. They wandered around him, looking anywhere but where he knew that Potter would be. He wasn't sure if he could look him in the eye after reading the section of the text that the ribbon had marked. He wasn't sure what to do anymore-all he knew was that he damn well better not make Potter mad in the slightest, or he would risk being so horribly mutated that not even he himself would recognize his reflection.

Not that that made any difference. He already had issues seeing the pale skin with slits for eyes and red irises with a snake-like appearance as himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to add on another reason for his reflection to become more of a stranger.

Despite his eyes' roamings of the walls, the floor, his moving feet, and anything else they could land on, they eventually betrayed him and landed right on Potter's face. At which point, his feet stopped and he leaned on the doorway for support. He wasn't entirely sure what to do now, how to proceed and he feared making the other mad.

That thought was almost laughable. Seriously, the Dark Lord-afraid of a child? He shuddered as he thought about what Potter really was and promptly shut his mind up.

"Can I help you, Voldemort? You seem a bit lost." He slightly shook his head to rid it of any remaining silly thoughts and asked if he may join Potter for dinner. The other nodded politely, indicating that he take a seat wherever he felt comfortable. His feet chose a seat that was across from the one who had both helped him and scared him shitless. He was definitely going to need to see some kind of healer to fix whatever was wrong with his head whenever he woke up from this bizarre dream. And the only way he knew it was a dream was because there was no way that Potter was a-

"Voldemort? Are you alright?" He snapped out of his musings fairly quickly. The last thing he needed was to look like a fool.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." He took an apple from the bowl on the table and started cutting it into pieces without much enthusiasm but lots of thoughtfulness. He wasn't too sure what he was supposed to do now, so he just let the silence continue on.

It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. More like a companionable one. They both sat there and thought, one munching away on the fruit and the other slowly demolishing an apple.

"Potter?" The long-haired annoyance looked up, his hair opening like curtains, with only a few tendrils hanging in his face.

"Yes?" He waited, clearly expecting something stupid to come out of his mouth regarding his Death Eaters.

"I know what you are." The pale boy paled even more, if that was possible.

"And? Look, whatever it is, it's clearly bothering you. So, out with it now. ALL of it, I don't care what kind of accusations you have or questions or insults or whatever. Just get it all out of your system right now. I promise you won't be hurt for anything that you may or may not say." Voldemort paused. He hadn't counted on the other knowing exactly what he wanted to do, he just expected to make his knowledge known and then he figured that he'd be dead within a moment after that. He wasn't sure which option he liked better.

"How is this even possible? First off, why did you have to look up a potion to fix me when you're clearly the most powerful being on the planet in the past hundred years?! And how come you're putting up with me? Or Dumbledore? You could take the both of us out without either of us knowing what had happened. No one would be the wiser, you're capable of killing off me and him with a few concentrated thoughts and you can make a battlefield that looks devastated and can put everyone under a memory charm so they think that we killed each other leaving you the only one standing and you wouldn't have to deal with this war or us ever again!

"Clearly we annoy you, that much is obvious, so why didn't you ever just kill us when you had the chance. You've had several so far! I don't understand you and I don't know why you want to keep me around. And why were you so nice to a kitten that wouldn't have made it under normal circumstances? Why weren't you able to protect yourself against your relatives when you were younger if you aren't human? And what, pray tell, do you really look like? I've seen you in three different glamours and I’m sure one of them is what you really look like and I'm tired of guessing!" He took a deep breath and suddenly felt blood rush to his cheeks. He just yelled at someone who could peel his skin off of his muscles just as easily as peeling a banana. What was wrong with him?!

When Potter replied, he was much calmer and his voice was soft.

"As I'm powerful, I'm not invincible. Certain things are beyond my limits and others are better not to mix with the kind of magic I can perform. I don't put up with you, I don't even tolerate you. I actually enjoy your company. Dumbledore is merely a way for me to hone my skills on manipulating the world around me as well as my acting skills. As for killing you two off, that's far too risky. I may seem like a reckless person, but I assure you every move I make is highly thought about and considered from almost every angle I can think of so I don't screw up. Dumbledore annoys me-you do not. I want to keep you around because I enjoy talking to you and I enjoy seeing someone that I can actually stand in my presence almost daily.

"The muggles have nothing to do with me anymore. Let's not bring them up again." His voice was icy cold before returning back to the way it had been before. "This is my real appearance. The others are for school and for other people that I want to get rid of as soon as possible. And by getting rid of I mean making them go away instead of pestering me with petty information that I couldn't care less about." He took a deep breath. "There's still something on your mind, isn't there?"

"Yes there is. A few actually. Firstly I can't give up total control of my Death Eaters. I can't and I won't. So everything must be approved by me."

"Agreed. They won't even know that I'm the one that's really in charge of them, I promise." He nodded, slightly appeased by this.

"And one more thing. The book said that your kind are able to control the darkness around you...what's that mean?" Potter sighed.

"That means that I'm a shadow demon."


	5. Chapter 5

Harry sighed. He knew that this would be coming, he didn't know why he had hoped that it would not. It was only logical that Voldemort would figure out that he was a demon. But what really surprised him was that he couldn't figure out that Harry was a demon that specialized in darkness. To him it only seemed logical since he had been taking refuge in the shadows lately-he knew that they'd follow him as he walked down a corridor or into a room.

But, then again, this was Voldemort. He wasn't too sure what to expect when he was involved in anything other than war and scheming plans. He had almost no idea what drove the man when it came to reality and peace. And he wasn't sure if he was happy to know that he wanted to know the man better. He slightly shook his head.

"Look, I know that you have many questions for me. perhaps they can wait until later this evening? I have a meeting to oversee and then I'll find you and we can discuss this." He stood and bowed slightly before sweeping out of the dinning room and into the foyer where he could hear the voices of several of his followers.

One extremely irritating and frustrating meeting later, Harry was striding down the corridors looking for Voldemort. He wasn't sure why he was so keyed up about the conversation they would undoubtedly have in only minutes, but he was. He turned another corner and stopped.

Thanks to his magic swirling around him and collecting the shadows, his approach was completely silent and he was left unobserved and unnoticed. He leaned against the doorway and just watched.

He had walked in on Voldemort sitting in the window seat that faced the gardens. His feet were dangling off the ground and his head was leaning against the glass. Harry allowed himself a small smile before regaining his composure. Voldemort hadn't noticed his presence yet, and he was content to watch the man sit and think silently. A small sigh could be heard and Voldemort's eyes closed.

He stepped over the threshold and out of his shadows, letting his footfall be heard. Voldemort's eyes snapped open and Harry smiled reassuringly.

"Come take a walk with me." His voice left the option to be denied, and he was surprised when Voldemort actually accepted and stood. They walked in silence until Harry opened a door that led outside. 

Voldemort was eager to be out in the open, it seemed, because he had practically ran out the door to the rose bushes. Harry followed at a more appropriate pace and started walking through the maze of wildflowers and bushes. It wasn't long before he noticed Voldemort was by his side, a companionable silence between the two.

Eventually the two of them stopped strolling and stood in the silence of twilight. The sun was setting and they stood, just taking in the world around them. Harry always liked this part of the day the most because of the smell. It was the smell of rest and comfort, when the heady feeling of the heat would slowly dissipate and leave nothing but perfect clarity behind.

He stared out at the sunset, watching the silhouette of a bird fly by.

"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me. The carriage held just ourselves, and Immortality." He recited one of his favorite passages and waited for Voldemort to comment. He did.

"I'm not sure what I have to do with you being all kind towards me, but I know enough to know that you have to feel something towards me. Demons don't let their families go unavenged unless they care a great deal about the one that betrayed them." Harry sighed. He hadn't wanted to start with this-in fact, he didn't want to do this at all.

"I do care for you. Why or how I'm going to keep to myself until I deem it necessary to let you know." He paused, waiting for the other many questions to come.

"So...I'm not sure..." He could hear the hesitation in his voice and stopped him.

"I want you to be able to be yourself around me Voldemort. I don't want you to feel intimidated or unsure of yourself. You'll know when I want you to humble yourself. Another reason that so many of my followers like me so much. I enjoy spunk and determination...just not from many people. You should consider it an honor to be able to speak your mind. So speak it."

"I just, I want to know what you're capable of. What am I up against if I refuse to accept your offer?" He rolled his eyes inwardly. He had hoped that he wouldn't need to show him just how powerful he was.

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on the shadows around him. He then opened his eyes to complete darkness. He was definitely aware that the older man had flinched and was nervous. He manipulated the darkness to let in streams of random light until a miniature light show was in progress. After a few minutes, he let his power go and relaxed slightly. He hoped that his parlour trick was enough to pacify the Dark Lord for now.

And apparently it had impressed him, if his wide eyes and slightly apprehensive posture was anything to go by. "Okay, I guess I won't be going against you anytime soon. I suppose it's not the worst of options if I agree to forming an alliance with you." Harry nodded his thanks. "So...Why are you willing to give me as much freedom as you are?"

"Oh, there's more. I just wanted to see if you were going to attack me within the first two seconds after I proposed the options that you have. There's some more that I have, I just didn't want to waste my breath."

"Well, what are your other conditions?" Harry sighed. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. Especially since whenever he gave one of those particular sighs himself it usually meant a large sacrifice for the other party. In other words, this could be very bad for him.

"I'm having Severus brew me a few potions. With his help, we've been concocting a series of potions to enable you to become your former self-Tom Riddle. I don't want to work with some egotistical big headed bastard if he doesn't even look human. And that's final. So, either you join me and become Tom Riddle once more, or you can join Dumbledore in death. It's your choice, but either way I'm getting your followers." He watched as Potter walked away from him swiftly.

When he was finally able to control his legs, he walked to his room and promptly fell asleep for the night. The next day he woke to find himself curled up into a ball under his covers. 

They had gotten tangled in his legs and his head was underneath one of his pillows. He couldn't understand why he hadn't slept peacefully, but then again he didn't understand a whole lot about his life for the past few weeks. 

After rubbing his eyes, he got up and walked to the kitchen to eat. When he got there, he made himself some oatmeal and only ate about half before going to the gardens to think.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He knew that he couldn't take on the demon just yet if it came down to it, but he wasn't sure he could stall long enough to learn how to defeat him. Along with that, he didn't want to need to fight him. It just didn't seem right. And if he could play his cards right, he just might not need to fight at all, but instead manipulate the boy into doing what he wanted anyway.

No sooner had that thought pass through his mind than he was suddenly sure that if Dumbledore couldn't manipulate the boy, then he couldn't either. No one would be able to. It was his way or be killed then. It was right about at that time that he decided to call Severus.

He pressed a finger to the mark that he created during his school years and waited calmly. Severus showed up fairly shortly after being called and walked up to him.

"You called?" He motioned for him to sit on the bench opposite him.

"Yes. Potter wants me to join him. If I don't then he'll kill me. If I do then I have to let myself take the form of Tom Riddle once again." He paused, too lost within his own thoughts to continue speaking. It was only when he felt irritation radiating from his companion that he realized that Severus had been speaking and he hadn't paid any attention. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I said, I wasn't adverse to your old body once again. I must say, I quite liked it a damn sight better than this one. At least your other body was attractive." He watched as Severus stood and made to leave. As he was walking away, he called out to him. He turned to face the man in which called him here in the first place.

"Do you think it's worth it?" Severus smirked.

"Yes. But it matters not what I think. Only what you chose." He turned and swept away, no doubt to either brew yet another potion or to report back to Potter. He was stuck in a tight spot and he wasn't sure that he liked it at all. 

In fact, if he was going to be completely honest, he absolutely abhorred it.

A few days had passed and he still hadn't made a decision. And it was mainly because all he could think about was what Severus had said. That it didn't matter what one of his most faithful spies thought about him changing his appearance to that of his muggle father but what he chose to do in the end. So far he had decided that it meant that he needed to chose based on solely what he thought and not what other people wanted.

In the end, he made his choice that evening. He hadn't made any choices consciously, actually. He only wanted dinner when he had dropped the bomb on himself, so to speak.

A nice meal was set out for the two occupants of the huge manor when he had walked into the dinning room. Shepherd's pie was steaming and enticing, whilst he could smell the wondrous fragrance of baked goods for desert in the kitchen. He just knew that this meal would be divine.

"I thought we could use a nice meal for once without my followers invading on our meal." The quiet voice made him almost jump out of his skin, but he regained his composure nicely.

They sat down, one on either side of the table, to eat. They weren't at the heads of the table, it would be foolish to be ten meters away from each other if they planned on dining together. Instead they were placed about halfway down. The food was simply divine.

When Voldemort was finishing his pie, he heard a slight cough come from Potter. He looked up and indicated for him to continue, that he was listening.

"Have you made a decision or do you still need more time?" He felt his eyes widen. Never in his wildest dream did he imagine that Potter would give him more time, willingly, to let him choose a side! He was completely baffled but he kept it hidden quite well. It did well to school one's features at a young age. It better prepared him for situations such as this.

"I have." He felt his body straighten and he heard himself say what he never thought he'd ever say within the next week, at least. He had originally planned to come up with an answer this week, and he wasn't prepared for what he heard his mouth and voice say next.

"I've decided that I can gain much more by being alive than dead. As it is, I can't seem to get an upper hand on Dumbledore alone anyway. I'll join you, but only if I can stay here. I quite like this place, it's much calmer than my last abode." Harry's mouth almost dropped. He hadn't expected him to give in so easily or so soon. Out of respect and as a courtesy he had stayed out of Voldemort's mind his entire stay and now he was completely caught off guard.

He guessed that that's what he liked so much about both him and Severus. They both challenged him, although Severus knew his place and when to back off. Harry hadn't had enough time with Voldemort as a follower to know if he would remember his place or not.

It would seem that he would find out soon enough.

"Of course you may stay here. If you don't mind my saying, I wasn't going to let you leave anyway. Besides, the potion Severus is perfecting and finishing as we speak. He claims the transformation will be painful; more so than the Polyjuice and that's saying something. How Crouch could drink that stuff on the hour every hour without so much as a shudder is beyond me." He got up to leave and turned back when he heard a soft voice from behind him.

"Wait...May I accompany you? I have questions, you see..." Harry smiled and slowly shook his head in a bemused way.

"No. Your questions are most likely either personal or would be better off to wait until I have both you and I sitting in front of my extensive collection of maps. Now, if you'll excuse me I have some business to attend to." He turned and swept out of the room in a rather dramatic way.

When he entered his study, he focused on Severus and waited. Several hours passed and Harry hadn't made another attempt at getting the Potions Master to respond to his call as he knew the potions he was working on were all at various stages, all of them highly unstable right now. 

The poor man was overworking himself, trying to brew eighteen potions all at once, and one of them being one he invented not that long ago!

Harry would talk to him about that.

He had just finished reading a rather interesting book by Jane Austen; although it wasn't quite realistic in the Magical World, it was overly perfect for the Muggle World. It was moments after he closed the small text when Severus came in the room, bowing when he stopped.

"My Lord Viper. How may I be of assistance?" Harry bid him to stand up and drop the formalities for now.

"Is Dumbledore still asking after my health?"

"Of course. He's always wondering what his precious tool's doing when he isn't capable of watching." Harry nodded, knowing that the old codger wouldn't give up so easily. "My Lord, if I may?"

"Sit, please. You look tired. And stop with all the formalities Severus. It bores me when we're not in imminent danger." He sat and bowed his head slightly in a way of apology and acceptance. "Now, what's on your mind?"

"The potion you requested is done. It was fairly simple to create in comparison to some of my more interesting concoctions, but difficult nonetheless. However, it will cause a great deal of pain to Voldemort once consumed. He will be either unconscious or in too much pain to do anything on his own-even drinking water- for several days."

"How many?"

"At least six, no more than nine." Harry nodded, slightly upset that he was putting Voldemort of all people in that much pain. Sure he deserved some sort of discomfort, but that much for that long was pushing it for him.

"Well, I assume you have it with you then?" Severus nodded and handed him a tiny vial. "This is it? That much pain in such a small deliverance. Incredible." He quickly pocketed the vial and turned back to Severus. "Do tell me what's been going on in your life since you've been here last."

They spent the next several hours chatting away like old friends were prone to do after long periods of being away from each other.

The next day, Harry had to oversee another meeting. Everything in the world was going perfectly and flawlessly as planned, until one of his followers interrupted him.

He had been commenting on the progress Severus was having with converting the Malfoy family over from the Light side to Harry's cause when a new recruit from the back coughed to poorly cover up the phrase 'idiot move'. 

The entire room was deathly silent as Harry turned his head slowly from Severus directly at the idiot in the back. He stood slowly, loving the feel of his hair moving against his legs. His eyes flashed and glowed, betraying his calm appearance.

He felt his powers gather in the pit of his stomach and felt his hair start to whirl around him, first slowly like a slight breeze had started and then more and more fiercely. Blackness swirled around him in wild streaks, intermingling with the light from the windows behind him. He glared at his target before shooting the shadows from around the room at the dumb recruit.

When the blackness dissipated from around his body everyone saw the man lying on the ground, gagged and bound tightly. No one ever knew how he could form things like chain out of shadows, but all of them knew that they never wanted to be on the receiving end of it. Ever.

The man was crying in fear already.

"Never insult my decisions. You agreed to that when you entered my service. Now you must learn what happens when you go against what I say." He walked up to the man, letting the shadows lift him from the floor, levitating him two inches off the ground. "You'll never have to worry about disappointing me again." He turned and pointed at Fenrir's wife. He had recruited the both of them when he first started his own side to the war.

Everyone held absolutely still, wondering why he would punish her. They hadn't seen her do anything wrong, but that didn't mean that he couldn't read their minds. He slowly crooked his finger a few times and she walked forward, head held high. When she reached him, he could sense the slight edge of fear. It was mostly overpowered by a sense of determination and acceptance. He looked over her at her husband.

"You have a very brave and noble wife. She is definitely worthy." He turned back to her. "You haven't had anyone to play with in awhile, have you?" His voice was sweet, sugary sweet like honey. He reserved it for giving treats to his followers and they all knew it.

"No My Lord Viper. But I only need a toy to play with if you deem it so. I can survive without them for as long as you want me to." He smiled at her and lifted her face up with the same finger that had beckoned her.

"Take this vermin to the dungeons and have some fun with him. You deserve a treat since you've proven your worth-not only to me but to your husband as well." He felt a surge of pride as she smiled shyly at him.

"If I may...?" He nodded, indicating for her to go on. "May I bring my husband along? He's been bored lately." He nodded.

"Of course. Just be sure that your toy is no longer working by morning and thrown in the trash by breakfast. I don't want the smell, you see." She nodded and smiled as her magic took over for the shadows. They could hear the man's body hitting the walls all the way down seven flights of stairs until that gave way to a scream that was soon silenced.

A solemn mood followed.

"Let that be a lesson to you all. Dismissed." They quickly left, dispersing faster than cows at feeding time. He sighed quietly and turned to leave the room as soon as it was emptied of all but himself.

When he saw Voldemort in the doorway, the man fled.


	6. Chapter 6

Voldemort ran out of the room as soon as he saw Potter's eyes on him. He was running because he knew he wasn't supposed to be in the meeting and he was eavesdropping. And after what the long-haired demon just did to whoever that guy was, he wasn't in the mood for getting caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

Besides, he was afraid of Potter. He knew before what demons could do when angered, but he had never seen one as powerful as this. Nor one so angered. It scared him.

When he finally stopped running he had ended up in the garden somewhere. He had never been this far away from the manor since he had been a cat and it turns out that he was actually nervous being this far away from it. He had no idea how to get back and with an angry demon on the loose he wasn't so sure he wanted to get back. And therein lay his dilemma.

He was afraid to be out here by himself this far away from Potter and the reassurance that he knew where he was-somewhat. But he was also afraid to go back and to face the wrath of an angry demon. It just wasn't a good spot that he was in right now.

And then he stopped and took stock of what was going on. He wasn't supposed to be feeling like this. He never really paid that much attention to his emotions so why was he doing it now? He was acting on instinct. And somehow he knew that it felt oddly familiar, like he had used his instincts before now. He scratched his ear.

And that's when it hit him. He was turning back into a kitten! Panic settled itself in his stomach and he started turning around in circles madly, trying to find which way he had come from. Needless to say, it wasn't working so well.

He tried to cry out for help, his pride be damned, and it came out as a high pitched meow. In his head he could definitely tell that no one would be able to hear him unless they could see him. Deciding that it was inevitable, he sat down and let his body become the silver kitten once again.

He meant to try and find his way back, he really did! But his instincts weren't letting him do anything! It wasn't his fault he wanted to go and chase that damned mouse or that he just had to pounce on the dragonfly and get his shiny coat all muddy. And it most certainly wasn't his fault that he had to stop before the sun went down to clean himself up with his tongue. And it damn well wasn't his fault that the sun decided to go down shortly thereafter! He laid down and fell asleep a few hours after the sun had left the world in darkness, exhausted by all the emotions the tiny kitten had to go through in one day.

Harry didn't know what had happened. First he was mad at some newbie idiot and the next thing he knew he was watching Voldemort run off to the gardens. And not the regular gardens, no he had ended up running for the magical ones that change their paths all the time. And Harry had followed him.

He had trusted his instincts and powers to guide him through the bushes and hedges to find the blasted man. What he hadn't counted on was the shadows in here being this difficult to work with. They didn't want to obey him and he literally had to assert himself more than once by putting on a spectacular show that drained him of a lot of his energy. Not all of it, but enough to genuinely concern him.

And that didn't happen often.

Eventually, as in several hours later as the sun was just beginning to make its appearance over the horizon, he found the telltale signs of a cat's presence. It was sleeping and he decided not to bother it. But something made him turn the corner anyway.

What he saw wasn't a stray like he had expected, but Voldemort in his silvery kitten form. Well...once silvery. Now he was a weird combination of silver and muck brown and every other color in between. He walked up and gently picked him up and held him to his body, being careful not to jostle him too much.

He gathered his remaining strength and flew back to the castle where he would bathe the kitten once again and go to sleep.

He eventually made it back to his rooms and landed heavily on the balcony. He felt absolutely terrible after expending most of his energy. But he still managed to carry the kitten-now slightly awake-to the bathroom to clean him up better. Clearly Voldemort had no idea how to properly groom himself, probably a product of not having much practice as a kitten.

He turned the water on warm and started to gently rub shampoo into the soft fur, getting caught up in the gentle, repetitive movements. He was careful not to get any of the suds in Voldemort's eyes as he rinsed it all off. 

He heard a soft purring as he reached for the conditioner and looked down at the kitten.

Voldemort looked terrible. He looked like he'd been betrayed by his instincts and had been caught in the middle of a rock and another larger rock. A smile slowly crept onto his face as he started rubbing the conditioner into the silvery mass of soon-to-be fluff and remained there until he had the kitten completely rinsed off and clean. There wasn't any towels in the cabinet yet so he just cast a drying and warming spell on Voldemort, laughing as it fluffed out his fur until he looked like a cat with an afro.

Exhaustion took over his body after his small laughing fit and he went to lie down. He didn't say anything to the kitten, he just picked him up and put him on the bed before collapsing himself and falling into the blessed darkness that would refill his energy tanks. He didn't even bother to take his clothes off.

Voldemort watched as Potter quickly fell asleep. The man had practically been asleep while he was walking to the bed, let alone after his head hit the pillow. Lightly stepping up to him for warmth, Voldemort carefully examined the demon in front of him.

He was handsome, in a pretty kind of way. He knew that he had dimples when he smiled now and he also knew that he had emerald eyes that would change depending on his mood. For instance-if he was mad they turned as black as obsidian. Normally the boy-man-would be stressed and tense when awake but in sleep he was just the opposite. He looked peaceful and happy and calm.

And it wasn't too long before he found himself wanting to touch his cheek just to see if it was as soft as it looked and wanting to play with his hair. He quickly shook the thought out of his head and had to distract himself with clawing at the bed, trying to make it softer for himself.

When he was satisfied with that, he then started thinking about the man in front of him again. He wondered what he would do while Potter was using his followers to do his bidding and what would possibly occupy his time. He wondered if he would help Potter do whatever it is that he does or if he'd be stuck staying indoors and occupying himself. And then he remembered that he was a kitten again.

Again.

Why was he a kitten again?! What was going on? He thought that he had been done with this kitten crap but apparently not. Apparently everyone in the universe has decided that they were going to try and see just how irritated they could make him in the span of one month. And he was pretty irritated, that's for sure. He didn't want to be a cat but here he was-a bloody feline. And he didn't want to be less than a foot away from his arch nemesis and not be able to do a damn thing about it other than sit and watch him and wonder about what he was going to become in the future now that he literally worked for said nemesis. He didn't want to do that! He was Lord Voldemort! And he was utterly defenseless.

Other than a few claws, he was totally at the mercy of everyone around him for now. And he didn't like that one bit. He should be able to torture people to death and to strike fear into anyone that walked by. Now he'd only inspire the words 'cute' and 'adorable' not screams of terror. He didn't want to be a laughing stock but he had to admit that someone had to be laughing about it. Even if only on the inside and that was something that he just didn't want to take lying down. But it would seem that that was what he would have to do for now.

Now that he was a bloody cat again.

And it wasn't even like he was a full-grown fierce looking cat. No. He had to be a bloody kitten of all things. One of those cute and cuddly looking things. He didn't think that he could be very intimidating while he was covered in soft fur.

And then his thoughts traveled down other roads. Roads of soft beds and warmth and sleep.

When Harry woke up again, he wasn't surprised to find that his hair was in a huge tangled up mess. He also was not surprised to find Severus standing over him shaking him awake gently.

"What is it Severus? And no bowing!" He sat up slowly and opened his eyes.

"I have the potion for Voldemort. And I thought that I should tell you that you know that he may have turned back into a kitten after being so agitated. Clearly he did. But it shouldn't have any ill effects. The only thing that will happen is he'll be an animagus. A kitten animagus, actually. But I should mention that as soon as he takes this, in theory, his animagus form will mature and be the form of a fully matured cat. I'm sure he'll be slightly more happy about that." Harry nodded.

"I'm sure he will. Now if you don't mind, would you put it on the vanity?" He nodded towards the vanity that was next to his wardrobe and stood up letting his back pop several times. "That felt good. Anyway, was there anything else Severus?" He nodded gravely.

"Although he'll be in a severe amount of pain, no magic-demon or otherwise-should be performed anywhere near him. Which means that you shouldn't be near him-" Harry cut him off.

"That I shouldn't be near him because I have a tendency to overreact? I assure you that as long as no one shows up here during that change I can handle myself." Severus backed up one tiny step and regained his composure.

"Of course. I'm sorry to offend you but that is how you tend to act around people." He sat there and thought about it for a moment.

"You're right. But I can handle myself around Voldemort more than I ever thought I'd be able to. At first I thought I would've killed him out of sheer irritation."

"If I may, but I believe that may have something to do with the fact that he arrived as a kitten for awhile. The fact that he couldn't talk created a certain understanding between the two of you I think. In theory that would create a higher tolerance towards each other. And if I'm not mistaken, he doesn't seem to mind your company." Harry looked over to where Severus was looking and saw the kitten curled up in a ball next to his leg.


	7. Chapter 7

He watched the kitten sleep silently with curiosity. It wasn't like him to consider how such a simple act could affect him and yet, here he was watching a kitten sleep fondly. As a mother would someone else's child! It was preposterous! And yet, it was true. He was watching a kitten fondly. 

And not just any kitten. Lord Voldemort in kitten form.

Had he shown up of his own free will, Harry would have no doubt grown bored of his arrogance and killed him long ago. But Severus was right. Since he was forced to have that brought to light, he supposed that it was because Voldemort was in such a cute and cuddly form that he learned to get over his annoyance.

But he wasn't really ever annoyed at the cat. How could he be annoyed when the feline was too stunned by his new form to be annoying and anything but helpless and slightly panicked? Or when, by the time the irritating traits came back, he had grown used to the sense of humour and personality quirks; therefore making him immune to being easily annoyed at Tom. It was something he hadn't noticed or thought about until it was brought to light for him.

He didn't take his eyes from the silvery fur, too caught up in the way it shined in the soft sunlight from the doors to the balcony.

"Maybe you are right Severus. I know I no longer am irritated by him as easily as before. I rather like having his company around to be completely honest. It's calming to me, to have someone around that understands-somewhat-my views on all of this. And it does amuse me when he thinks of how my reasonings and arguments and doings make far more sense than any that he had. And I know it amuses him when he thinks that even the great Dumbledore didn't see the options I have. Dumbledore-a weary old man-can't come up with more wisdom and wise choices than a child!" He laughed heartily, the noise rousing the furball.

He watched as the kitten stood shakily, unstable on the mattress and blankets. It wandered around the bed and he let it, watching its movements carefully. Eventually Tom stopped and started licking his paw calmly, facing the french doors-and through them, the outdoors. If he wasn't much mistaken, he could have sworn that the expression on the cat's countinance conveyed the great dislike for the outside world at this moment. He couldn't help the urge to laugh, and he did so quietly.

The kitten spun around quickly, its momentum pulling its bottom over the edge before Tom could gain any hold on the sheets. The look of utter terror on the feline's face as it fell was priceless and had both Harry and Severus on the floor, laughing.

Severus's laughter sputtered out into a shout of alarm and a string of curses. Harry looked over to see Tom attacking his old follower's face with a vengeance. He laughed as he pulled the cat away, holding him high in the air by the scruff of his neck.

"Severus go heal yourself while I deal with this one." He put the cat down on the bed and stopped Severus before he was out the door. "Oh, and make sure no one comes anywhere near here for a month at least. When I want them, I'll call for them." Severus left with a curt nod and Harry turned back to the cat. "Do you want to be human?" The kitten nodded vehemently and he held out the vial with the potion. "Take it then."

Tom looked at the vial apprehensively but let Potter tip the contents into his mouth anyway. The least he could do was poison him and the only difference that would make would be that he wouldn't get to watch Potter control his followers. The liquid slithered down his throat and made him want to gag. He repressed the urge and swallowed several times trying to get the taste out of his mouth and throat.

It wasn't until several minutes later that he felt any kind of change. He had laid down while waiting and was glad he did so when the searing pain started. It wasn't like a burn you would get from touching something hot-it was like someone took a white-hot rod and was slowly trailing it around in his body, searing all of his organs only to be felt after it had moved on to another organ. It took away his breath and he couldn't form a decent thought.

His pain was so great that he couldn't even pass into the void of darkness that one visits when they faint. He couldn't scream, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't do anything but endure it.

How Potter could be so cruel as to put him through this kind of torture he had no idea. He wouldn't even have put anyone through this kind of displeasure and that was saying something. Oh sure, he'd have people-both followers and opposers-disemboweled while living. He'd have them endure the worst poison Severus could concoct and he would even have some of them eaten slowly, healed, and then eaten again. None of that compared to this-none of it even hit the same plane of pain. They didn't come close.

How a teenager could watch someone go through this he would never know.

All of these thoughts were stored in a small recess of his mind, to only be found after the searing and gut-wrenching agony had dissipated somewhat.  
How long he was in his torment he didn't know. He had no way of keeping track of time and every time he thought he could find a steady breathing or heartbeat to keep track of he would lose count before he could hit ten and would have to start over. It was enough to make him go mad had it only stayed around for a few hours. But even he knew that it had to be longer than that to keep him sane.

It had been that way with the Longbottoms. When Lestrange tortured them to insanity they were left for dead, only to be found by some of his other followers who tortured them some more, believing them to be dead bodies in which to take their anger out on.

What had happened was one of the only things that could surprise him back then. They had brought the married couple back to him to show him their coherency and completely healed minds.

He had kept them in a privately set dungeon to do some research on the two and came up with only one logical answer: the human brain can repair itself with what had damaged it in the first place. It worked somewhat like Stockholm Syndrome: the brain would endure through enough pain to be considered insane and would be broken beyond repair. It would then remain that way-hiding the same parts of thought in a small space that nothing could get through to-until more pain would eventually break its way in and let the sane thoughts take over once more.

Was this what they had to go through when they had been tortured to insanity and back again before being murdered?

Oh sure, he had thought ahead enough to transfigure two of his smaller followers to their shapes and tortured them accordingly until they were just coherent enough to walk around aimlessly. He did that only after changing their memories to match those of the Longbottoms. His tracks had been covered well, for he was the only one to know the truth about the two people that were visited by their 'son.'

When the torment finally started to reach its downfall, it grew slightly in power as if to try to consume his pain and continue to feed off of that for the rest of eternity and to deny the truth. In reality it was burning itself out faster by growing larger. It consumed his entire being now, burning his bones to a crisp and evaporating any remaining moisture in his body. He was sure he was withering away to nothing.

But it did begin to disappear slowly, his consciousness starting to create solid thoughts-even if they were simple ones. But simple was better than nothing at all. Time was the next thing to come into play-he could count to twenty now without pause. Only once did he make a mistake, and when he did he simply started over. After that, he didn't know what he could do as he finally slipped into the unconsciousness he had silently begged for while he still had the ability to think properly. The blackness swarmed up around him and consumed him before he could object.

When he woke up again it was to find Potter leaning over him with a cool rag against his forehead. He shut his eyes again to make sure what he was seeing was really what he thought he was seeing. Sure enough, Potter was still there with the rag.

He was thankful to note that he had clothes on and was human once again and tried moving his arm. It wouldn't move.

"Ah, you're awake. Severus told me you might not be able to move for awhile after giving you some potion or other. He said it would numb the lingering pain and that you should be very thankful that the only side effect is temporary paralysis. He actually worded it differently, I just made it sound nicer. His way was profoundly more irritated and crude." Tom made a small noise in the back of his throat and winced at the quiet scratchy sound. He had expected his voice to be rough, but not almost completely gone.

"Another thing, he said not to talk very much. I'm assuming what you went through was extremely painful and that's why he doesn't want you talking but you never know with him. I will say this though, I trust Severus. So no talking. Would you like something to drink?" At the nod Tom gave him he got up and held a straw against his lips. "Slowly. I don't want you getting sick all over my bed." At closer inspection he realized he was, indeed, on Potter's personal bed. The straw took importance though and he took a small sip.

That gradually turned into the whole cup and he inhaled slowly trying to make the slightly sick feeling go away. He needed the fluid and he wasn't ready to give it up just yet, but his body clearly didn't like how quickly it got the hydration it so clearly needed.

He watched as Potter calmly and patiently held the cup for him until he finished it. When he got up to go refill it he watched his lithe body moved and flowed, just like the shadows around him did. Smooth, almost like there was no beginning or end between him and the dark splotches against the floor and walls.

When he caught himself it was when he was watching the hair. That damn hair swinging so tantalizing to his imagination. He could picture anyone being on the other side of the long curtain and yet no one but Potter could pull it off correctly. No one had just that color skin to make the blue-black stand out against the purple and absolutely no one, not even his late mother, could have had the eyes to match that color green exactly. Harry Potter was an enigma to him and that irritated him.

He couldn't understand why he was always beaten by the demon, even if he was a shadow demon. He didn't understand why he didn't burn with the desire to kill him the moment he laid eyes on him. He didn't understand why he couldn't find the urge to irritate him anymore. He just didn't know anything anymore when it came to this man.

And man he was. Before Tom had only considered him nothing but a boy but looking at him now he was more of a man than anything. A feminine man but a man nonetheless. No woman could hold that much power in the way Potter did and no woman could hold the sort of commanding air he had. No, this was something entirely new to him and he wasn't sure what it was. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.

All he did know what that he felt an inexplicable pull to Potter and he was almost positive that it wasn't reciprocated.

When Potter turned around he averted his gaze quickly settling on the window where a few birds flew past. He wasn't entirely sure but he thought he saw a raven. Why he decided to fix his mind on that he would never know, he just did.

Potter never really talked, just made sure his basic needs were taken care of. Food, water and basic comfort so he didn’t get sore from being in one position too long. When he was given tentative permission to get up, he groaned at the sudden jolt of pain that attacked him. Almost instantly Potter was at his side helping him sit up, and eventually stand. He waved the long-haired demon and went to the bathroom by himself. He was highly aware that Potter wasn't pleased with him for that, probably upset that if he had fallen it would have taken him time to get to his side whereas if he were there he could have prevented the fall in the first place. Potter, always the hero.

But that wasn't true. The scene he had witnessed the other day, whatever day that was, was proof that Golden Boy Potter wasn't the hero after all but the crude and cruel mastermind that managed to play both sides with the winning hand. He had made them all think he was just a poker chip when in fact he was actually the dealer with a royal flush.

And Dumbledore didn't stand a chance.

He would see the old man crumble and fall to Potter just like he had and he would laugh as the elderly bastard went down. He couldn't wait to see the terror in his eyes when he saw that Potter wasn't on his side at all but seemingly on his! And then he would laugh harder when he would see the inevitable hope in the annoying eyes of the old man when he learned that Potter wasn't on Tom's side. It would be just too funny.

He supposed he would have to tell Potter to stop so he could enjoy watching Dumbledore go down and he wasn't sure how Potter would react to that. Would he heed his request and pause, letting him have his fun taunting the idiot or would he just kill him? Perhaps he would just capture him and take him home for his own private fun. Did Potter have a weird fetish with holding people captive? He hoped so.

When he found himself hoping that Potter had a sexual thing for holding people captive he stopped his thoughts in their tracks. He refused to let himself be in those situations at all, let alone with Potter. The mere idea was simply unthinkable! He shook his head and found himself drifting off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry Potter. He repeated his name repeatedly in his mind, over and over again.

Harry Potter.

He had debated changing it just to change things up. Just so he didn't have to repeat his own name to himself to try and make himself get used to it and possibly even begin to like it. So far it wasn't even beginning to work. 

And yet, he knew that these weren't the reasons for his repeating his name to himself. He refused to think about it in front of other people and yet...Tom wasn't very coherent yet. It was a few hours after he had taken that potion and he was deadly silent and still. Harry hadn't felt his shadow pass into the permanent realm of servitude to him so he knew he was still living. He just wasn't responding.

Harry Potter.

Perhaps it was because he liked his name? Because of his mother naming him that? No, that didn't feel right.

Harry Potter.

He stared at Tom for some time, just waiting for the repetition of his own name to start to give him some inkling as to why he was really repeating it.

Har-

And then it hit him. He was repeating his name because he wanted Tom to call him Harry. He didn't want to be called Potter, but Harry. He never used to repeat his name like this, only his last name because that's what everyone knew him as. Only the people that really knew him and vice versa were allowed to call him by his given name. The ones at Hogwarts only got away with it because it was a part of the act just as Severus had let Dumbledore call him 'my boy'. But soon that would change.

Everyone that followed him called him Viper and soon would all those who told him that he was doing the wrong thing and stood up for Dumbledore. But he didn't repeat the name Viper to himself, no he was repeating Harry Potter with a small emphasis on Harry. Small enough that he didn't notice it until he paid attention to it.

He wanted Tom to call him Harry.

Questions swirled around in his mind. He didn't know where to even begin. Why would he want his ex enemy to call him by his given name? He had already admitted to himself that he wasn't irritated beyond belief because he was thrust with his company in a different form. But what could possibly make him want Tom to change what he calls him? He no longer said his last name with venom, no now it was delivered indifferently. Was it just that he wanted him to say it as if he was happy he got to call him that? No, that would be weird.

Harry Potter, Shadow Demon, wanted Tom Riddle to call him Harry.

Out of curiosity he imagined what Tom's voice would sound like if he did indeed ever call him Harry. That led to him imagining a slight moaning aspect to the way his name was delivered and that led to him thinking about a silk covered bed in soft candlelight and moans of passion and feelings of pleasure.

He shook his head to dislodge, only to find that it wouldn't leave easily.

He moved on his chair and leaned his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples and eyes trying to think of a logical explanation as to why he just had a minor romantic thought about Tom Riddle.

Actually if he was going to figure anything out he best be honest with himself. There was nothing minor about what he thought before. He had imagined licking down his chest for Merlin's sake! There's nothing minor or remotely innocent about that. So he had a huge and very explicit thought about what he would like to do to the taller man.

And taller he was. He knew that from years of 'fighting' with him. But that was okay since he was shorter than most people even two years younger than him.

Perhaps it was because he hadn't had any sort of sexual gratification in over four months. But then again, that didn't feel quite right either. Didn't he read something somewhere about this? Because if he had, he needed to find it again and quickly.

He got up and quickly searched through his stacks of books pertaining to different types of demons. Almost half of the pile was for fire demons so he disregarded those. A third of what was left was about water demons and those he pushed to the side. Eventually he narrowed it down to three different books. One was on demons in general, and the other two were on shadow demons. The rarest of them all and consequently the rarest books of all the ones he just sorted through.

He took them back to his post by Tom's side and began to skim the contents for something that might help him understand.

He wasn't sure how much longer it was but Tom's fever hit a dangerous spike. Quickly rising, he went to wet a washcloth and gently pressed it against the hot skin, careful to avoid any leftover furry spots that hadn't changed to their human appearance yet. He wasn't sure if he should cool those spots down since the hottest places were the patches of skin that were completely changed back to human likeness.

He spent many hours bent over the bed like this, determined to be there when Tom woke up. When he just started getting tired of trying to keep him cool, he noticed Tom's eyes open. To his great displeasure he found himself staring at the ice blue eyes of Tom Riddle longer than what was called for as he registered only one thought run through his mind.

Harry Potter.

Neither one said much the next two weeks and Harry never performed any magic. He had to admit, it was getting to him just a bit and several times a day he could be found in the darkest room in the middle of the night in a corner trying to be around as many shadows and as much darkness as possible. He never noticed before just how much he relied on their presence to comfort him and to give him the confidence he was usually surrounded by.

It saddened him, mostly. He didn't have any confidence during the day, and what was an amazingly powerful demon without oodles of confidence? There's no worse feeling than that of going from confident in everything to being the complete opposite in a matter of hours.

He had to admit though, it took longer than he originally planned for it to happen. He knew that going without his comfort and strength at his side whenever he needed it would depress him, he just thought it would take minutes rather than hours. But then again, no other demon of any element had ever willingly given up their magic. And even the ones who were forced to give it up from uncontrollable situations never talked about it.

He remembered reading somewhere that most of them went mad and committed suicide by letting their element and magic surge back into them too quickly. He might want to keep that in mind for when Severus says he can use magic once again. Then the thought of seeing his potions master excited him.

He missed the slightly sarcastic expression the man would have when walking in, like he was in on a joke that no one else knew about. And, even though he told him not to be as formal as he usually was, he kind of liked the fact that Severus knew who was ultimately in charge.

But he missed his easy company and society. It wasn't every day that someone under the service of a demon had the determination and spunk to crack a joke at said demon's expense. He loved the fact that he was easy to talk to and that he always had good advice. He was an exceptional spy as well as adviser. Harry would forever be pulling strings for that man, he just knew it.

Already he's asked him for potions ingredients that Harry knew he only wanted to experiment with for his own personal pleasure but he had gone with it anyway and gotten him as much of that ingredient as possible no matter how rare or dangerous it was. Although he had to admit that the Blast-Ended Skrewt teeth were extremely hard to get. It would have been easier if he had asked for unicorn blood.

After another week he began to get anxious. What were the others doing? Where were they going and who were they recruiting? Who's found another spy for him and had any traitors been detected? When would he find out anything about his followers and what they were up to? What was Dumbledore doing right now? Was he asking about his little 'Golden Boy' still? How many times would these questions run through his mind? Would he really go insane and commit suicide? Or would he actually survive this and be completely fine?

To be fair, most of the people that surrounded him thought he was already going insane anyway. They knew that he would always remain smart about his decisions concerning their lives, but when it came to traitors or people who got in his way they couldn't promise sanity or clear thinking.

And then there were the thoughts about Tom. What was he doing? Where was he? What did he think now that he was in his old body once more? And then there were some uninnocent thoughts and questions. When was the last time he got any? Did he like girls or guys, he had never heard anyone talk about his love life when he was in school. He certainly had the charms back then from what people said to have anyone he wanted. Who did Tom Riddle want in school? Who did he actually get in school?

Did he ever have any of his followers? Was it ever consensual? What was he into? He shook his head to dislodge those thoughts.

To occupy his time, and to try to keep some form of his mindset, he started reading the books he had found earlier. The first one was no help at all. It hinted at what he needed to find, but it didn't actually tell him anything that he needed to know.

The second was much more helpful.

It told him that if a Demon of Darkness were to ever exist again, then there would most likely be some form of giant disaster looming. It didn't surprise Harry in the slightest, there was a war looming over his head. It also said that due to the imminent danger, his instincts would lead him towards the best match for him so they could reproduce to keep the Shadow Demon blood going.

Which all made sense, sort of. Couples tend to have a lot of sex before the wives send out their husbands to war, and they usually end up pregnant. But why was he having these thoughts about Tom Riddle of all people?

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" Tom's voice rang out through the halls and Harry cringed. He had never heard Tom yell before and he was absolutely positive that he didn't like it one bit.

"What is it Tom?" His voice, rather than being mad and loud was exhausted and quiet. He had hoped the other man would get the hint and quiet down but apparently he was destined to go deaf.

"I'VE SPENT THE PAST TWO WEEKS IN THIS HOUSE AND I CAN'T DO A DAMNED THING! YOU WON'T LET ME USE MAGIC, YOU WON'T LET ME TALK TO ANYONE, NOTHING!" He sighed.

"Tom I already told you, Severus's orders were to keep you away from magic and people. When he shows up is when you can use magic again." He sighed when he heard Severus's voice from the doorway.

"And I'm quite glad you made him heed my advice. Tom would you mind screaming just a tad louder, I'm sure the wizards in China haven't heard you yet." Harry chuckled.

"DAMN YOU SNAPE I'VE BEEN GOING INSANE HERE AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO STAND THERE LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL!" Harry stood.

"Tom, that's enough!" He delighted when the older man turned to him, shocked. The demon had never yelled at him before and even though his memory was a little unreliable when he was running through the garden, he still remembered just what this particular demon could do if mad enough. 

"I've taken the risk of losing my sanity to make sure you lived through that potion, I've listened to your damn yelling for the past month, and I'm risking my life both in repressing my powers and in letting them back in. I'm not going to listen to you insult my favourite spy and best potions maker too!" He smiled when he saw Tom's face turn as white as a pair of new socks. Severus walked in a ruffled Harry's hair, thanking him with his light touch for his loyalty and trust. Harry, in turn, riddled him with questions about what had been going on.

The next several days were spent with Severus and Harry bent over his extensive collections of parchments and maps.

In that time, Tom had gotten quite restless. Here he was, society-less and bored out of his mind with two people less that five feet from him and he wasn't able to get so much as a simple greeting out of them. He resorted to reading more books in Harry's libraries, which bothered Harry slightly. He wasn't worried about Tom finding his books about sex, more like he didn't want him to find the ones on the more hardcore scenes. That would just be embarrassing.

It wasn't like he was into that stuff, quite far from it. He simply used the information he gathered there to devise torture systems and techniques. He learned how to tie someone to the ceiling, that had been much more fun that a simple levitating spell which doesn't cause pain. The ropes had caused pain.

It was another four days until he finally saw someone other than the house elf that would bring him his meals while he was in the libraries reading. 

Four days of nonstop boredom and an increasing irritation to having to resort to finding books on subjects he knew little to nothing about. He now knew about almost every single religion that had ever been established and widely accepted around the world, he knew everything about the muggle world that the old books had known about and he knew where the ideas to just about every flavour of jelly bean both magical and not.

He was going to explode if this kept up.

No, not explode. Implode. Dark lords don't make messes and exploding would certainly make a mess. He would implode, less of a mess. One body to get rid of versus one entire room to clean. Imploding was definitely cleaner and so he would implode if he had to keep sitting in silence like this.

It was after these thoughts that he got up and put his book away and went in search for another. He wasn't interested in learning any more about some crumpled-horn-something-or-other, he wanted to learn something interesting. And then is when it hit him.

Harry Potter, while one of the most powerful beings on the planet, was still a teenage boy. There had to be some form of porn around here somewhere.

Of course he came up empty-handed. After walking around the entire library twice he was ready to give up but decided to check just one more time. Of course, it would be easier to just summon everything to do with sex, but he really didn't need to have fifty books hit him all at once. After another five minutes of looking, he finally spotted a book that looked brand new. Previously he hadn't paid any attention to it, but now he was curious. 

A brand new book with no title? That didn't make sense to him so he pulled it out and started to read.

When Severus left that night, Tom made Harry take a shower and go to sleep in his bed rather than over his maps and parchments. When the demon came out of the shower, Tom sat up. He was going to get an answer if it killed him...which it might.

"Harry...since when are you into BDSM?"

"What?" The demon turned to Tom, extremely tired and worn out. The last thing he wanted to do was to answer ridiculous questions. "I just want to go to bed Tom, what are you on about?" He wasn't sure he liked the look on his face when he repeated his question. "Tom, can't this wait until later? I'm exhausted."

"No you most certainly can not go to bed until I get an answer." Within seconds a slight flash of anger mingled with a large wave of frustration and he had the other man tied up on a chair within half a minute. "Oh come now Potter, I knew you were into tying people up but really, is this the time to be jumping me?" He turned and growled loudly.

"No. I'm bloody well tired, therefore you can sleep in the hallway." With that being said he lifted Tom's chair up and carried him to the other end of the hallway before setting him down in a soundproofed room. He heard protestations up until he slammed the door shut and smiled while leaning against the wall. It was quiet at last.

He thought about how obnoxious Tom could be when he wanted something, and he was glad that he had the guts to lock him up for the night while he caught up on his much-needed sleep. His room was dark, just the way he liked it. The doors to the balcony were open and made the curtains flutter in the cool breeze, an added bonus to him as it would have cooled down his silk sheets even more. If there was anything he liked more than a nice relaxing walk through the shadows at night, it was falling asleep in cold sheets.

He climbed in, his long hair flowing behind him across the bed and was promptly falling asleep. He remembered thinking that if he hadn't been so tired he really would have jumped Tom just to shut him up. He never did remember the tiny voice in the back of is mind tell him that it wasn't just about making him be quiet, but because he was attractive and could be great company when he wanted to be. He also wouldn't recall agreeing with any of that.

When he woke up the next morning it was to find that the sun was just reaching the position in the sky that meant it was about nine in the morning, just a fine time for him. He stretched languidly and got up, going to the bathroom and then straight to the room he put Tom in the night before. He fully intended to just let him go and not answer any questions until later.

At least, that's what he intended to happen.

What had occured was something that not even Tom had been prepared for.  
He walked in the door and looked at the man he had tied up. He hadn't realized it at the time but he had added a few intricate knots that he hadn't even realized he was adding at the time. Now when he looked at him he was tempted to just devour him. Shaking his head, he let his presence known by clearing his throat. The look of utter helplessness that Tom had before he had realized Harry was standing there disappeared quickly and he started asking questions again.

"Since when are you into BDSM? Why would you even consider something like that anyway? Why are you avoiding my questions?" Finally it was too much for the demon to handle and he yanked him to his feet, having already untied the ropes.

"You talk too much Tom." He set him down and turned to leave the room when the next question took him by surprise.

"Why'd you call me Tom?" It wasn't the question that made him stop initially, it was the quiet tone in which it was asked. Tom had sounded so small and unsure of himself in that moment, that Harry wouldn't have been able to stop himself from turning around and looking at him curiously.

"I don't know." He made to leave again when a flash of irritation hit him. It wasn't anything but questions and Harry knew that he shouldn't be offended or irritated at him but the man had a way of getting under his skin and driving him mad. He turned around again and grabbed the front of his shirt pulling him down so they were face-to-face.

"Tom, just shut up." He then took them both by surprise by taking his lips in a devouring kiss that seared them both. They lost themselves in the passion of it for a few moments before Harry tore his lips from Tom's just as suddenly as he had put them there and turned to run from the room. He wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, as long as it was a considerable distance from Tom. The shadows took pity on him and swallowed him into their depths, transporting him to the other side of the manor.

Tom just stood there, confused as to why Harry kissed him and even more confused that he left the way he did. He put his fingers to his lips, amazed that Harry Potter had just given him the best kiss of his entire life.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry wasn't sure why he kissed tom, he wasn't even sure he knew why he had called him Tom in the first place. It bothered him to no end as to why he had done what he had done, and it only bothered him because he didn't know what was going on with his body.

Harry had had been tired lately, more so than he normally would be. Even dealing with all the events that had gone on and having Severus pressure him into writing to Dumbledore on a regular basis to keep him under the assumption that he's still recovering from the battles, he shouldn't be as tired as he was. It just didn't make sense, especially since he could gain his strength from the shadows and darkness around him.

After sitting on the edge of a chair for the better part of an hour, he decided to get up and do something productive-and the first thing on his list was to go to his maps and to decide his next plan of action from there. However, on his walk back to his room, he decided that a better idea would be to write to Dumbledore and see what the Order was planning.

What he didn't count on was Tom walking into his room after he had written Dumbledore's name on the top of the parchment. He sensed him walking into the room and looked up, withholding a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to Tom-quite the opposite. And that's what scared him.

"Yes Tom?" He could practically hear the hesitation in the small step he heard him take towards him.

"I...I just wanted to apologize for being so demanding earlier. It wasn't my place to ask all of those questions, especially such personal ones." The demon turned around and looked at him in complete shock. Lord Voldemort...apologizing?! What was wrong with the world? Did the cosmos shift? Was he dreaming? No, he definitely wasn't dreaming, the kiss they had earlier definitely couldn't have been dreamt.

He quickly regained his composure and nodded before gesturing for him to come and join him.

"There's nothing to forgive. Come, sit down. I must finish this letter, but it will only take a few minutes. And then we shall do whatever you want for the day." He smiled slightly as Tom sat down on his bed before he sat in his chair and continued his letter.

Dumbledore,

I'm slowly regaining my health after the battle at the castle, however I fear it may take a bit longer than we had been planning. Snape has been helpful with my potions homework, and with the potions he's been providing for me. It really is quite helpful to understand what's happening when Potions Master puts a stasis spell on a potion in progress to explain the reactions of the ingredients.

I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to make it up to headquarters before the next school year, my legs are still too weak to support my weight very far, even with Snape's help.

Let me know what the Order's been up to lately-or what you can tell me in a letter anyway.

-Harry

He sealed the letter and sent it off with the owl Dumbledore had sent to him with the last letter he had received before turning to Tom.

"Now, what would you like to do today?" He knew what was coming next.

"Can I just ask you questions and you answer honestly?"

"Of course." The next thing that happened didn't shock him, but he had been hoping that Tom would wait a little longer before asking what he knew would come up eventually.

"Can you tell me everything about Shadow Demons?" Harry sighed and walked to the door.

"Walk with me." He led him out to the back gardens and they strolled through the roses until they reached his current work in progress.

Irises, magnolias and jasmine covered the walkways and created tall walls around them with a gorgeous black marble fountain in the center. What really made this section of the garden special though, was the dozens of faeries that Harry has asked to come and live here. He specifically chose romance faeries to live here because all of his favorite flowers happened to be flowers that romance faeries in particular seemed to love. He was pleased to see their wings light up tiny spots of light everywhere and the flowers seemed to sparkle with youth and health since the last time he had been here. It seemed to him that the faeries were a good idea.

Another one of his good ideas happened to be the cobblestone walkway he has on the ground as well as the bench with a cushioning charm on it and the temperature controlling charm he placed on it.

He smiles when one of the faeries flew over to him and landed in his outstretched palm. He had a blue glow around him and a wonderfully bright smile, as all the faeries did.

"Thank you for inviting me here. It's much better than the gardens I had been living in before. All of us thank you, really. It's been so nice to be here around all of these flowers and such hospitality. All of us are so happy."

"You do have a nice glow about you." Harry smiled. "As do the rest of you, of course." He turned after the faerie took off towards some irises. "So, what do you want to know?" The response was immediate.

"I want to know everything. Including how being around one would affect a normal person." Harry closed his eyes, incredibly suspicious that he was right when he looked up everything about Shadow Demons.

Tom wanted to know everything about Shadow Demons, including things like where they liked to live most in the world, what kinds of foods could and couldn't they eat, what creatures pissed them off and what creatures calmed them when they went into a fit of rage, etc. It was likely he wasn't going to get most of the information he wanted, but he was at least going to give it a shot if he could. And now was his chance, when Harry looked most likely to answer all of his questions.

"First off, I want you to know that most things known about Shadow Demons, which is very little to begin with, isn't proven to its fullest extent. As far as I know, I'm the only one for centuries so most of what was written down when the last one was around is probably mostly bullocks or overdone by those too weak to understand or those who wished to feed on the rarity of the information and make a killing for writing a book or spreading rumors. What I can tell you for sure, through experience I assure you, is that Shadow Demons are not like other demons whatsoever.

"Most demons prey on fear and helplessness; that isn't particularly true of a Shadow Demon. Typically yes, fear and helplessness are rather fun to enjoy, but not without a cause. I never really instilled fear on you on purpose because you never really gave me a reason to. Oh sure, the wandwork and fancy escapes pissed you off, but it didn't really cause too much fear in you. That's why I kept escaping, not that 'instilling fear into the dark side' crap Rita Skeeter threw all over the Daily Prophet. I enjoyed making you mad because what you were planning on doing to me wouldn't have affected me in the least. On the other hand, letting myself get into those positions made Dumbledore the most scared little child I have ever seen, although he didn't show it.

"Most other demons don't have half the powers that I do, they travel through their elements and gain power from that, but that means that they are extremely limited to the places they can go. Shadows are everywhere; therefore, I can be anywhere and can always gain power, no matter where I am." He paused and thought for a moment while the cool breeze blew back his long hair.

"I have the ability to change into whatever form I want, most other demons are restricted to what their mood dictates. Every demon has their ‘human’ name, the name their parents gave them for when they were to blend in with society. Mine happens to be Harry Potter, as you’re well aware. They also have their ‘demon’ name. Usually it’s something elemental-with shadow demons it happens to be an animal. Hence, Viper."

Tom could hardly make sense of the quick speed in which Harry-no, Viper- was speaking. It was as if he wanted to get all of this off of his chest for a very long amount of time, and now that he had a captive audience to get him started, he was just going with his stream of consciousness, making most of it a slightly jumbled up mess, from which he could determine the storyline.

"But what about how you affect other people?"

"Oh, that's easy. I make the people around me feel what I want them to feel at the time with the exception of two people so far. You and Severus. Severus I understand, simply because he is a good friend of mine and has concocted himself a potion that allows himself to remain unaffected by me. Others can still affect his mood in the idea of safety so he doesn't accidentally slip up. You are still a mystery to me, but you're becoming less and less so by the hour." 

Tom stood rooted to the ground as a sudden realization overcame him in that moment. It wasn't the demon messing with him at all-in fact, it was all Tom himself! Tom's mind was the one coming up with the fantasies and the odd observations that he was noticing, not Viper sending him subliminal messages to screw with his mind. It was his own body reacting the way it was to Viper simply because his mind was doing all of this to him. It led him to the one conclusion that he just didn't want to admit to himself before, but now he had no choice.

He was attracted to Viper, that had to be it! Him and his stupid long hair with the highlights in it, with those damn violet eyes and that stupid pink mouth with the irresistibly pouty lips...

No, no that wasn't it. If he was attracted to Viper he'd be drooling all over him and not coming to this realization now, he'd be thinking about this later when he tried to go to sleep. No, it wasn't Viper he was attracted to, so that must mean that the one person who'd ever been able to stay just one slight step ahead of him, the one person who'd always been able to get into the paper without doing anything of particular interest, the one who was beyond doubt, the most irritating person Tom had ever known besides Dumbledore himself, was the one he was attracted to.

And he'd be damned if that person wasn't Harry fucking Potter.


	10. Chapter 10

After Tom had come to enough senses to put that information into storage for now, he looked at the demon cautiously. He wasn't sure how long he was baffling inside his own mind over the new information, but he could gather that it wasn't long enough for the demon to notice. He nodded and they continued on with their conversation like no pause had ever taken place in the first place.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't fooled. He knew that Tom had just come to a major realization, probably something along the lines of the one he had come to a few hours ago. 

Harry wasn't sure what he wanted from Tom just yet, but he knew that eventually he was going to either get out of him what he just was thinking or he'd have to tell him they were mates at some point or another.

He also knew that a certain someone had just entered the wards with a non-ward detector spell on his person, and the only person who could pull off moving through wards and being undetected was someone with a very long, very white beard. As he talked on with Tom about the perfect living conditions that he liked simply based off of instinct, he could feel him getting nearer, probably invisible so that way Tom wouldn't see him. And since the type of magic he was using was something that only Dumbledore knew of, he could guarantee that Tom didn't know how to detect it, as it wasn't shared with anyone but with the creator himself and probably his shoes.

And so it came as a great surprise to Tom when Dumbledore finally revealed his arrival by becoming visible once more just inches behind one certain Viper.

"And so, I have you now, Riddle. I had so hoped that I would be able to take you out in some epic battle that you inevitably would have started, but as Severus was so foolish to think that I didn't catch on to his little spying game I slipped him some truth serum. Now, you and your little death eater can come with me and this will all go away. Or I can kill you now, either one. And since you don't have your wands..." He held up two wands, one being Tom's and the other being just a random wand Harry had ordered from Ollivander's some months ago in case this situation ever arrived. "I think it'd be best to comply.

That was when Harry lost it.

The shadows swirled around his head and surrounded his body, lifting his hair every which way and the sun lost it's vibrancy it had possessed only moments before. Dark anger clouded his mind, but not his judgment, and he turned around slowly.

"I'm sure that Severus did fall for your little trap, no doubt you hid the potion in some form of tea or muggle candy you forced upon him. But did he tell you exactly what has happened to the famous Harry Potter?" Dumbledore blanched. "That's right, I have him here. And I'm sure he'd be willing to talk to you, if you hadn't angered me so much. So for now you only get to see him." He morphed his face into the one he had posed in most of his life and let it sink into the old man's mind while the shadows took him to a secured Dungeon where no magic could be performed by anyone but him.

"Come Tom, let's find out what the idiot has to say to my story, shall we?"  
They entered the dungeon where Dumbledore lay on the floor in utter shock.

"Well Dumbledore? Any ideas as to what was done with Harry? No? Well, Harry and I are the same. You see, the one thing you failed on counting into your little scheme was the fact that I'm a Shadow Demon, if the display I put on outside was any indicator. I've been faking the whole innocent Potter act ever since I came to Hogwarts, and more so when I found out that your real plan was to take over the entire Wizarding World and to leave it to suffer under your ruling. I'm sure you never expected me to die in the end, at your own hand, and I can tell you right now that I'm much meaner when it comes to backstabbers and betrayers like you. And the worst kind is the ones who lie, and that's what he's done, don't you think Tom?" Tom nodded his head in agreement, ready to tear the old man apart at the first sign he could see.

"Ah now Tom, we mustn't be in a hurry. Go, gather your troops, I have a treat for them all." Tom reluctantly left Viper and Dumbledore alone. They waited, Dumbledore trying to reason to deaf ears until Tom arrived back with twenty ravenous-looking death eaters.

"Look, here they are Dumbledore!"

"You might try to break me, but you never will." His head was held high, something that Harry had expected from the moment he had crossed the wards.

"I was hoping you might say that. See, your death will be quick and painless." He took great pleasure in seeing the old man's face lift a slight bit, the relief that he wouldn't have to undergo hours upon hours of torture showing plainly on his face. "Oh yes, a quick and painless death." The death eaters and Tom had enough sense to remain quiet to see what would happen. "However, since you're so fond of taking care of the dead and have a duty to respect the dead out of pure selfishness because you killed your sister, they are going to abuse your dead body. Rape it, mutilate it, I don't care. But I'm sure they're going to take great pleasure in telling you what they'll each do to you before you die. Have a nice time in hell, you rotten, lying son of a bitch."

Harry took Tom and shadow-walked them to the other side of the castle, so Tom couldn't hear the pleading, or to see what was going to become of the body. Normally, he would have told himself it was because he didn't want him to have nightmares and come to his room asking for reassurances, but now it was inevitable. Tom was his mate, and he didn't want his mate around that kind of violence, where accidents might happen.

"Why the hell am I not allowed to stay and torture his dead body?! I, of all people, deserve a part in that! AND WHY WON'T YOU LET ME GO!?" Harry held on to Tom despite his squirming and yelling he was doing, and when the other man finally stopped yelling to breathe, he interjected his opinion.

"Because I don't need you in that kind of atmosphere where dangerous accidents can occur. At least with potions I have Severus to counteract accidents. However, I am not skilled enough in wand magic to know what to do should something happen to you down there. But I can assure you, your death eaters will be more than happy to recount the events of what will be happening down there and I'm sure more than one would be happy to share their memories with you of their own free will, don't you think?" He could tell he had taken Tom by surprise with his concern when he stopped moving around in his vice-like grip, and was immensely pleased that he had actually listened for once in his life.

"You care about what happens to me? Why?"

"You of all people should know why based on your own feelings. It's the same reason you wouldn't want me down there in the fray of the action and it's the same reason that I am going to let you go and make a choice." He did as he said and let his captive go so he could move about of his own free will and hoped that he wouldn't try running off again.

"Okay, what's going on here. You have me stumped." Harry knew otherwise, but he didn't argue with him. Instead he conjured two chairs and wordlessly lit a fire in the room they had ended up in. It seemed to be what remained of a library of sorts, but that would have to be sorted out later.

"Fine. Look, the shadow demon gene is passed down from generation to generation, no matter the genetic combinations it's mixed in with and it only comes out when a major shift is about to take place in the world. As such, a shadow demon has a very limited amount of time to find their mate so they can pass down the gene again. It's why everyone with the gene will inevitably find someone to have kids with-even if they're of the same sex. From what my research has told me, most if not all shadow demons are paired with someone of the same sex, why I don't know. I'm assuming it's because the same sex typically knows better what the other person wants in a relationship rather than the opposite sex, but that is just pure speculation."

"But what does this have to do with me?"

"Think about it." He watched as Tom's face went from immediate horror to understanding to resigned within a matter of seconds. "I know you don't like to be forced into anything, and that's where honor comes in. All shadow demons have an immense understanding of honor, and as such cannot take a mate without asking permission first. I don't plan on just taking you to bed either. With a mate comes an extremely large urge to protect you and over the weeks I've come to think of you as more than a friend anyway. I want you to just consider it, maybe give it a try if you want. I'm not going to demand anything from you, and I want you to understand that it's not your duty in any way to accept me. Shadow demons have mates, sure. However, if the mate declines, the demon is left to find someone they consider suitable for them to keep them under control. All I ask is that you think on it and try to stay out of trouble in the meantime."

"But why didn't you tell me this sooner?" The confusion was showing in his eyes, and Harry shrugged slightly.

"I didn't want to alarm you or to pressure you. But now that I'm looking at things from a victorious standpoint, I realize that this was only the beginning. The diehards for the light will likely never accept what has happened here today, and we must make sure we avoid any riots or breakouts. The last thing we need is another Order of the Whatever Animal They Choose coming after us and trying to spy on us and what we're doing. And I'm sure the Ministry will have an issue accepting that Dumbledore will no longer be able to give Fudge any advice like he's been doing nonstop about every issue that comes up since Fudge took office. Before we weren't in danger. But now the real danger approaches...and at a rapid pace too."

He turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Tom to think about what he had said and to hope that somehow, Tom decided to give him a shot. 

Because if he didn't, Harry didn't know what he would do.


	11. Chapter 11

Tom's first reaction would be to say no with no exceptions and just walk away without looking back. But something inside of him told him to at least give the idea a shot for a few days and then to make up his mind when he wasn't thinking about how much he hated being cornered into things and how he didn't get to get his last revenge on the one person who he had hated so much. He reluctantly decided to sleep on it, just for one night.

One night turned into two which turned into four and that quickly led to a week later. Harry had hardly been seen and when he was, he didn't talk. He sat in front of his maps and papers all day and night trying to keep riots to a minimum and to keep the Wizarding World in one piece. It wasn't as easy as everyone assumed, even Tom had to admire him for that. But lately he'd been admiring him far too much.

He shouldn't be admiring his hair, be it short or long and he most definitely shouldn't like to look at his body whether he was short, muscular and tan or short and pale. He didn't want to admit that his eyes, no matter the color, always swirled with a hypnotic air to him and his eyelashes were always thick and full in a way a male's never should be. And he most certainly didn't need to be admiring his characteristics. It was easy to brush off the physical compliments he silently gave him since looks went away after the years passed, but characteristics and traits of that nature that made a personality didn't change much with time, if at all. And if it did, it was usually less anger and more patience, which was a good thing in his mind.

He really hated his way of thinking sometimes.

It really wasn't helping him in trying to deny the fact that he really wanted to give Harry a chance to prove that he could take care of him, and it wasn't helping him deny the fact that he might actually like being taken care of for once. He just didn't know what he wanted.

Which was why he was hiding in a broom closet now. He had been walking down the hallway for lunch when Harry had turned the corner and started walking towards him with purpose, so he hid in here as quick as he could hoping beyond hope that Harry hadn't noticed him. He knew his chances of that were slim, but a man could hope, right?

How wrong he was to hope. Only moments after he thought that he'd gone undetected the door was gently pulled open with Harry standing on the other side blocking his only way of escaping. He sighed keeping his panic to a minimum. He wasn't ready yet, and that's what he would have to tell him. Just say it and get it over with, the quicker the better-like taking a pepperup potion! Yeah, he'll just down his emotions for a minute, tell him he wasn't ready for anything like that and run off to his room!

Unfortunately for Tom, that's not exactly what happened. What did end up happening was Tom blurted out some hodge podge of nothingness that meant nothing to anyone whatsoever.

"What?" Voices could be heard down the hall so Harry came in the broom closet with Tom and shut the door before repeating himself in a much more hushed tone. "I only wanted to know if you've been thinking about what I told you." Tom took a deep breath and looked down at the floor. He only saw darkness. 

"I just...I don't know how I feel about it yet but...I'm not unwilling to give it a try I suppose..." He shrugged and looked up at Harry who looked hopeful.

"So you're going to give me a shot?" Tom nodded again, despite the fact that his mind said to yell no that it was just a joke on him. It seemed his mind wasn't going to get much of what it wanted today, no matter the precautions he took. It just wasn't his day, he supposed. But if it meant he could get to see the happy smile that now graced Harry's lips, he'd gladly do whatever his mouth told them he was going to do. He really did like to see Harry smile like that, and it wasn't often that he did anymore. He used to smile more when Tom was a cute little kitten that 'didn't know any better' even though they both knew that he did know better than to do half of the things he would get away with simply because he was a cute and adorable little ball of fur. And who can really get upset over waking up to such an adorable little kitten fighting your toes in the middle of the night because you moved in your sleep?

Tom had taken full advantage of being adorable to do some things he normally wouldn't get away with, simply because he could.

He had expected the smile, or at least some resemblance of a smile. What he didn't expect was the sudden hug that Harry was now giving him, nor the sudden feeling of warmth and acceptance and a distant feeling of never wanting to leave where he was right now. Because regardless of them being in a broom closet in a hallway hiding from whomsoever decided to 'grace' the castle that day, he felt safe and comfortable for the first time in his life.

And that thought scared him.

Only when Tom decided that it was time to make the information known that the light side had fallen and they had decent plans for riot controls and such did Harry start the preparations for his trip to school and agree that Tom would go with him. They weren't worried about the school's defenses or security, Severus being Temporary Headmaster had taken care of that for them.

"So how did the staff react when Severus told them he would be taking over Headmastership when Dumbledore went AWOL?"

"Well, apparently they went into a huge uproar but according to him they calmed down after McGonagall told them she didn't want that much responsibility. She's getting older you know." Tom nodded and they went back to refining their riot disaster plans.

The next day they left detailed instructions with a select amount of Death Eaters who were to give out instructions when they got into their groups in various places around the Ministry before they left for Hogwarts.

When they finally arrived, the castle was eating supper in the Great Hall, and Harry heard Severus tell the students that they had some special guests coming to give them important news and that they were to remain silent until they got done explaining everything. Needless to say that created a million conversations between students wondering what kind of news was coming their way. Tom pulled out a quick-quotes quill and a scroll of parchment for the public article they were making to spread the news throughout the entire Wizarding World. The interesting part of the article was that they were blocking all owls in and out of the castle until the article had been published in every magazine and newspaper that their world possessed.

So it was with a practiced ease, Harry double checked that he was in Viper's form, his true form, and opened the doors and walked down the Hall to Severus.

"Ah, and here they come now." They walked to Severus and greeted him with hugs and whispered greetings before Harry turned to the school's populace.

"My name is Viper, and it is with great sadness that I bring you the news of the death of Albus Dumbledore." Shocked gasps could be heard from every table and a few whispers broke out, only to be quickly snuffed by Severus's quick thinking and sharp look. "Although he is a generally kind man on the outside, I must bring you the terrible truth about the one whom so many blindly trusted.

"The man that you all saw was kind hearted and willing to work for the benefit of all people around him. However, that isn't the man he really was. He put on an act to make people trust him, to make people see his way in things and to think that there wasn't any other way. He made things much more complex than they needed to be and not only I saw this. Minerva has witnessed his obsession with making things much too complicated for most anyone to follow as has Severus, both of which are good friends of mine.

"With that being said, let me tell you what I know of acting and why you should trust me. I have walked among you as a fellow student and a trusted important figure of the Wizarding World. Oh, you don't recognize me, do you? That is because I also am an amazing actor." He changed back into his form he used when he posed as Harry Potter and smiled at the shocked silence that followed. "I am a shadow demon, something your trusted Headmaster never bothered to tell anyone-not even me when I confronted him about it.

"I stand in front of you as a person who was betrayed in more ways than one by that man. My parents died because of his lies, and many relatives of yours did too. He tried to make us believe that Voldemort was wrong in his beliefs, that all he wanted was to torture all of us and use us for his bidding and I am here to tell you that that isn't true. No, I'm not following Voldemort. No, I'm not on the light side. I am on my own side, one which Voldemort himself has joined and that Dumbledore didn't out of sheer selfishness.

"Dumbledore wanted to make sure that everyone was under his control, including the Minister himself. He didn't want to give the power back to the people, to let others suggest ideas for what they think would be best. He didn't really want creatures to be considered even though he 'fought' for them. It was all a part of a large, nearly untraceable plan that he had created to make himself in charge of everything that happens in the Wizarding World. And he was willing to murder me to obtain complete control." Harry pulled out a memory he had taken from his stash in his office and projected it into the air for everyone to see the old man planning his death after killing Voldemort.

The shocked silence that followed was so complete and pressing that the silence itself had a sound to it.

Harry stood there and waited for the outburst he knew was coming; and it did moments later in the form of shouts of things such as 'traitor' and 'liar' and other such similar insults. These continued for several minutes, until Severus decided to threaten the student populace with detentions and suspensions if they didn't quiet down.

It was then that Harry continued to show them a series of Dumbledore's memories that he had stored in flasks for the school to see and then they were sent to bed. He gave them a week to think about it, a week in which several students complained that they couldn't send or receive letters and several other parents complained of the same issue. All complaints were ignored and everyone was told to just ignore the issue as it would be resolved soon and was being put into place for the safety of their world.

Eventually everyone cooled off enough to think things through and each student was interviewed for their opinions, most of which decided that perhaps Dumbledore wasn't as friendly as they had originally thought. The others were either indifferent or said they wouldn't do anything to protest the way things were going as Harry's views appealed to them more than Dumbledore's did.

Their stay at Hogwarts was mostly ignored and Harry was just fine with that. It didn't take much to realize that no one was going to get the owl ban to lift on their own so most of the older students went back to studying for their classes, which only made the younger students study more.

Not much happened in the relationship department while they waited for all of the papers and magazines to print their story, a rather lengthy process because of all the smaller operations they had to contact across seas. A month wasn't really that intrusive upon their lives, but both men just wanted some time away from the gossiping portraits and silent questions that were always around them.

Actually, now that Viper thought about it, it really was only annoying rather than bothersome. He was tired of all the rumors that floated around him and wasn't too thrilled that he had to give up his identity in order to have to effect he wanted his announcement to have. He'd rather everyone know than have to sit through countless hours of questioning and truth potions and extracted memories-it was easier to just make them believe him by showing them something as equally outrageous as Dumbledore doing anything to help his own agenda rather than helping other people. Besides, it would help to further the distrust that they would soon have for the man. 

The hope was that they would begin to question everything that he told them, since he hadn't bothered to tell them that the 'Savior of the Wizarding World' was actually a shadow demon that could go crazy at any moment and kill them all with a single motion. Or to tell them that he was planning on murdering two people who only wanted peace and secrecy between the two worlds in order to keep magical beings alive and unharmed. He wanted them to see how manipulative Dumbledore could be on their own. If he just told them everything the way he wanted them to believe it, he would be no better than the old man himself.

Eventually he got the last magazine he was waiting on to publish the story and lifted the owl ban and within a few minutes hundreds of owls were flying out of the castle and into the night sky to reveal the news that parents and children alike had received. 

Unfortunately that meant that dinner was going to be one hell of an ordeal.

Sitting at the front table with the teachers never bothered the pair until that night. They had to deal with all of the repercussions when Severus stood to make his nightly speech before they ate.

"As you all know, the owls are now freely moving in and out of the castle again, thanks to Viper and Tom. No doubt many rumors have reached your ears, as all of you dunderheads seem to like to gossip, and I would like to tell you that they will be willing to talk about it after dinner." Several students outright questioned why after dinner and why not right now but Severus quickly put an end to that. "I said after!" His minor outburst quickly silenced the protesters as did the help of the appearing food.

It wasn't two moments after the desserts disappeared that they started up again.

"What really happened with Dumbledore?"

"How did he die?"

"How do you even know he died? Why can't he just be hiding somewhere?"

"Why didn't you tell any of this to us?" That was when Viper stood.

"Look, I don't want to tell any of you anything that you don't need to know. So I will be having a meeting with all of you seperated by year so you get to know what you can handle. The older students can handle some things that the younger students won't, and that I will leave up to my own discretion. You don't have to agree with me, but if you go to an older student to get your information then I won't argue. Just be sure that your parents know who you got what information from. Now, if the first years would follow me please." He stood and took them down to the dungeons where he could easily expand one of the classrooms that hadn't been used in years to further explain himself to them.

Obviously he didn't tell them anything about what had happened in detail but he told them enough to get the point across. The second years got a little more but not by much as did the third years. The fourth years were thirsty for information about Viper himself when he was only known as Harry Potter as they were old enough to remember all of the stories their parents had told them and they knew the significance behind what Harry Potter had stood for when they were younger. The fifth years were a little more interested in Viper himself and his background and what he was. The sixth and seventh years he grouped together and told them the entirety of what had happened and who he was and even a little about what he was. 

He was doing just fine until Hermione and Ron piped up.

"Why didn't you tell us any of this? Who the hell are you? And more importantly, why are you siding with him of all people?" Viper sighed and huffed.

"Well I was going to tell you why I didn't tell any of you, but you interrupted me. Now, if there's no more interruptions I will talk.

"I didn't tell any of you because it was a safety issue. Dumbledore didn't even admit to me what I was, and I'm sure he regretted giving me my father's invisibility cloak. I used it to sneak into the library to do research to find out what I was, not to study and not to fly on my broom. It's not that I didn't trust you, I trusted most of you. And I do have to thank you Neville, you gave me the one thing I thought I would never need, let alone come across." Neville's face lighted up at the compliment and told him that he would like to talk later about it if he wasn't too tired.

"Thank you Neville, but I hardly need any sleep anymore. I get my strength from the shadows around me, therefore I draw on them for energy. Since shadows are everywhere and constant, I don't really need sleep anymore." 

He gave him a small smile and thought he saw a flicker of desire run through the young man's eyes.

"Now, as some of you were rather keen on keeping too close to Dumbledore for my liking, I decided not to tell anyone about myself. I did, however, trust Severus enough to tell him what was going on in my fourth year in the hopes that he could help me so I wouldn't be killed. And to my immense surprise, he did help me. I just kept up an old pretense of strong hatred to make you think that nothing had changed. In truth, Severus is my closest friend that I have and will always remain so."

With that and a few other minor questions answered he dismissed the group.

Everybody left the room and Neville moved closer to Harry. Tom looked a little anxious at the situation, knowing that something that was supposed to be private was about to be revealed, he just didn't know what yet.

"Neville, do you know what happened when you threw that plant at Tom?" He shook his head. "You turned Lord Voldemort into a kitten. And my noble ass felt the need to rescue the little thing, not knowing who it really was. I went into hiding and slowly came to realize that Tom was indeed the same annoying little furball I had rescued. Now, you might not know what an amazing turn of events that would be for me but I'm willing to explain as long as you swear that you'll never tell another soul about what I'm going to tell you."

"I swear. And may I just say that it's a pleasure to know the real you. I was getting worried about you in school, you never did seem to really fit in the way you should have, even though no one else believed me when I pointed it out. You just never really got into anything you said you were interested in, I could see it in your eyes. Except flying, you loved being in the air." 

Viper laughed. "I don't necessarily like flying for competition, but I love doing it recreationally. They never caught me getting my broom for a late night fly because I never needed to get into the broom closet. I can manipulate the shadows into lifting me up into the air and carry me around, which is a much better feeling. It's thrilling, knowing that there's nothing tangible underneath of you to keep you up in the air."

Neville just smiled and Tom held his breath, waiting to see what Harry really wanted to tell him.

"That's not why I wanted to talk to you though. I wanted to thank you for what you did that day, without it I never would have realized what an amazing person Tom can be when he wants to be. I never would have realized that I needed to find a mate in order to keep the shadow demon gene going and I most certainly wouldn't have realized that I was meant to be with Tom." He turned to face Tom. "As long as he's okay with it." Neville tilted his head.

"You mean, you haven't been with him the whole time? That's what it looks like, I mean, you two are always together..." Viper laughed.

"I told him it was his choice so he asked if we could take it slow. So we are. But I still wanted to thank you for bringing him closer to me than I ever thought he'd be." Neville nodded and looked at his watch before leaving with the hasty excuse of being late to seeing someone. The two men let him leave and smiled at each other before they went to be in their respective rooms.

The next day they left Hogwarts and moved to the Ministry to take care of a few press issues that needed to be cleared up. So far it seemed that the Wizarding World was being more accepting than they were expecting and Harry had the sneaking suspicion that someone was planning something very big and very underground.

But as nothing had happened yet and no one looked particularly suspicious about anything he couldn't really go around making accusations. And until he had proof that someone was going to do something large and unexpected, all they had to do was really nothing. Tom took care of all the political stuff with the occasional opinion from Viper and Viper spent all of his time trying to find new ways to sweep Tom off of his feet. And although both were going swimmingly, still there was someone lurking in the shadows that was planning something big. Good, bad, neither one of the two could tell what...but they both knew that it would result in a large change that would alter their entire world.


	12. Chapter 12

It was only a few months later that the threats started to come. 

For the most part, they didn’t worry about them. It was usually someone who had lost someone they loved during the first war or some ex-student that Dumbledore had made a particularly good impact on. But when Tom opened a threat that was written in blood, he took pause. He didn’t even read it, as soon as he saw what it was written in, he hastened to Harry’s study. 

He was in the middle of a small meeting with some ministry officials. They had been working tirelessly to make sure that the proper precautions were in place so someone like Dumbledore couldn’t have such a heavy hand in politics. 

He put a hand on Harry’s shoulder gently, knowing how he hated to be interrupted during his meetings.

“Yes Tom?” His voice was worn thin, haggard by all the planning and negotiations and proposals he’d been working on. 

“I hope I didn’t interrupt, I just wanted to see if anyone was staying for dinner tonight before I start cooking.” They had created a sort of alarm system to the other. If one suggested to cook while the other was in the middle of a meeting, it meant that something required attention. 

“No, we were just about finished for the day. Not much more we can discuss before I rewrite these proposals anyway.” They saw the ministry men out before Harry rounded on Tom, his hair rapidly growing as he dropped his glamors.

“What’s happened?” His voice was tinged with alarm. Tom had only interrupted him once before and that was because Frenir had forgotten to take his monthly potion. He had needed Harry to help contain the beast for the night. 

“This. We cannot ignore these anymore.” He handed his partner the letter and rubbed his face. Harry’s face drained.

“Tom...there’s only one person who could have done this.”

“Well how would you bloody well know who wrote it? It’s not like they signed it!”

“The blood that it’s written in is the blood of someone who has been dead for a long time.” Tom took pause at that. “It’s….written in my mother’s blood. There’s only one person who would have had her blood on hand this long after she died.” Tom’s forehead furrowed in thought. Who on earth would have had access Lily Potter’s blood? 

“Who let the meddling fucker get away?” 

To say that Harry was furious would be an understatement. The entire manor was cloaked in shadows so thick you could hardly see. No one had seen Harry, they had only heard his voice come from within the darkness every now and again.

Upon Harry’s request, Severus arrived a few days later with almost an entire gallon of veritaserum. After careful consideration, Harry called upon all the followers that had been in that manor the day Dumbledore had arrived. There was at least forty of them waiting for their orders in the living room. 

The darkness completely engulfed the entire room, making it impossible for anyone to see. From behind the followers, Harry’s voice rang out. 

“On the day Dumbledore showed up, I asked several of you to take care of him. To kill him and then do the worst things imaginable to his corpse. Did any of you do what you were told?!” The men around him shivered at the sudden hostility in his voice. He could practically taste the fear that was in the room.

“I will be asking you all to describe to me, in grave detail, everything you useless fucks did to him. Understood?” Everyone powered through their fear enough to nod their heads in agreement. “Excellent.” His voice was much more pleasant now, and the shadows receded until the room looked normal. 

Suddenly, every single follower was tied with ropes so they couldn’t move. They were forced to take shallow breaths as the bindings restricted their chests and keeping their muscles clamped down in one spot. It was sure to be painful.

“Let’s get started shall we?” 

Viper spent the next few hours listening to a bunch of stuttering fools. All their stories seemed to line up, until he lost patience and rounded on the last one there. This one was new, he had only been in their ranks for a few weeks before Dumbledore had shown up.

“YOU! My patience wears thin. What happened that day?” A picture of horror was soon painted as the man talked. He had a wonderful knack for retaining details. It was only after a few minutes of listening did Viper stop him.

“What do you mean, you told them to cast the killing curse? Did they not just kill him to begin with?” 

“N-no my Lord, they insisted on playing with him so they could hear his screams.” 

“Elaborate,” his voice was strained.

“Well, they played with him, sir. All of them wanted to do nasty things, some of them busied themselves cutting into his skin, others took advantage of his arse and mouth while more of them taunted, teased, kicked and masterbated over him. I’ve never seen such hatred before, I had to leave after that. They were convinced he had died, that he had bled out. They said they’d take care of the body. I-I was foolish, sir, and believed them. I should have followed them. I should have done better by you, sir. I cannot even ask for forgiveness, but I can promise you I’ll never be so foolish again.”

Viper released him from his ropes and pointed to the corner of the room. The man walked away, head bowed, and stood in the corner.

“Well?” He was clearly waiting for someone to speak up. “Is anyone going to tell me what you did with his body after that?” When no response came he motioned for Severus.

One by one, Severus started forcing the truth potion down their throats. He had gotten through half of them before someone from the other end of the room spoke up.

“Okay, okay. We had our fun with the bastard while he was still alive, that’s true. His screams were just too pretty my Lord, we gave in to our pleasure. No one thought to check his pulse, he had lost so much blood that we didn’t even consider it a possibility that he had survived! We took him to the woods and dumped him near the feeding grounds for the wolves.” Viper pinched the bridge of his nose.

“And did it not occur to anyone that his companion was a phoenix? Are any of you even aware what phoenix tears can do? His bloody bird came back and healed him you self-absorbed idiots! One spell. ONE SPELL AND HE WOULD HAVE BEEN GONE FOR GOOD. NOT ONE OF YOU CAST IT FOR GOOD MEASURE?” He banished them all to the dungeons and gave instructions to Severus to keep them in as much mental anguish as possible for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, Viper made his way to the dungeons. Severus had held true to his promise that the idiots would be crying before the day was done. 

“My Lord,” Severus bowed. “I hope I have pleased you well. Each one of them took full advantage of the truth serum and they all forced each other to out with their deepest secrets. I didn’t even have to prompt them to do it. It caused turmoil, insults were thrown and now they’re all convinced you’re going to torture them all to death for their transgressions.” Viper’s eyes widened with disbelief.

“And they did that all on their own?”

“Well, perhaps I did plant the idea that you were going to be terribly upset that not only did Dumbledore get away but that your greatest spy was being kept here to babysit them instead of finding out where Dumbledore was.” Viper chuckled at that, glad that such a notion had petrified them so well. 

“ALRIGHT THAT’S ENOUGH!” The sobbing stopped, although the tears still flowed freely. “Now listen up and listen good. I expect every single one of you to do your damndest to find that madman you so foolishly left alive. I fully expect him to be here within a week. That’s seven days! More than enough time to find him. Am I clear?” They all nodded as their cell doors flew open. Viper and Severus left the dungeons, their hair and robes billowing about behind them as they went.

Tom had watched the demon grow more and more impatient by the minute. He couldn’t seem to find out where Dumbledore was hiding and his followers weren’t being much help. 

He had personally dispatched a few dozen of his followers to find the man at any cost and they had all reported back with nothing. They would trace him for awhile and then the trail would grow cold. 

They were both in one of the libraries, researching ways to hunt someone down when Tom got a brilliant idea.

“I’ve got it!” he exclaimed triumphantly. “Listen, you can travel through the shadows right? And you can do it with other people as well! So here’s my idea…” 

“Tom, that’s brilliant!” Viper stood and held onto Tom’s arms, his eyes practically glowing with excitement. “You’re an incredible man, you know that don’t you?” The moment suddenly shifting from lighthearted and excited to serious and heady. It caused their heads to practically spin. 

“My Lord…” Tom’s voice was barely a whisper, his breath ghosting over them both. They were so close, and so far away at the same time. “Forgive me,” he leant forward to close the distance between them. 

To say that Viper was elated would be an understatement. He had been waiting for months to see any sign that Tom wanted more than just friendly companionship from him. Gently his arms snaked around Tom, coming to rest on his hips while he returned the kiss. Tom’s arms had made their way to his chest as a deep blush graced his cheeks.

“There’s nothing to forgive, my dear.” Viper was left breathless after the kiss, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.


	13. Chapter 13

The next several days Tom and Harry studied how to magically track someone with a magical object-in this case Lily’s blood. When they were fairly certain they had gotten that down to near perfection they moved on to seeing if they could combine that with Harry’s ability to walk through shadows. Eventually they came across a breakthrough, enforcing the idea that Tom’s plan would work. 

Two weeks after the letter had been delivered, Harry called upon Tom and Severus. 

“Alright, we’ve gone over this a few times but I want to be absolutely sure we know what we’re doing. Obviously I can’t just waltz right on in, knowing Dumbledore he’ll have some sort of trap waiting for me. So I’ll take the three of us through the shadows to a fair distance away from him, that way we can sneak up on him. Severus, he trusts you. You can go ahead of us, distracting him so we can sneak up from behind. Once I’m close enough, I’ll make sure the bastard is dead once and for all.”

With that out of the way, he grabbed the two men and started walking to his destination. 

When they stepped out of the dark they saw they had appeared behind a maple tree. Other than a few other trees there was one building. It wasn’t that large, but it was definitely a decent size for Dumbledore to be hiding in. It wasn’t like him to have such a large hiding spot, all his others had been rather cramped.

Severus took the lead, striding to the building and walking through the front door with his wand drawn. Eventually the other two could hear voices.

“Severus, my boy! I haven’t seen you in ages, I was wondering if you were even looking for me.” Their conversation continued, words blending into one another as the two silently hastened to the back of the building. The voices grew louder as they rounded the corner. 

A small window was the only hope they had of looking inside to see what was going on. Tom took the lead, peeking around the side of the window. Inside was a large, empty room. The entire place was devoid of shadows, except for one spot in the corner. It had just enough of a shadow to allow Harry to have stepped through. From his position, he could see Severus facing his direction, with Dumbledore facing the corner. 

“Rather brilliant don’t you think? See, he’ll come walking through that shadow any minute now and when he does this sensor will activate all these other lights that will effectively rid the place of shadows. I can’t have him using them against me, you see.”

“And what do you plan on doing with him then?”

“Why Severus, I thought that was obvious. I’m going to kill him. He can’t be allowed to wander freely, he’s much too dangerous for that.”

“Albus, if I may be so bold, are you not aware that him being so...unstable is partly due to you? He never had guidance in life, in fact he had the exact opposite. He came to you with problems, and you shunned him away. Someone who values loyalty above all else like him would be offended when they find out that someone they trusted with their life had been lying to them for years. I’m sure, since Harry’s much more loyal than your average person, that you can at least imagine the kind of resentment he must hold because of that.”

At this small outburst, Dumbledore took pause. He didn’t seem to know what to say for a moment, before his posture relaxed.

“My dear Severus, the boy was supposed to eventually hate someone. It just wasn’t supposed to be me. He was supposed to have died in the graveyard, and if he had come back he was supposed to hate the bastard that tried to kill him, not me! He was supposed to hate Voldemort and kill him years ago, not prance around in gardens with him!” Tom flinched at the callousness in which the rant was given. He knew that Dumbledore was manipulative, but he had no idea he had willingly sent a boy to his death.

“Albus, you of all people know just where my loyalties lie. Why continue to fight when it seems they are so clearly the winners in all this? The Order has completely disbanded itself with most of the members either defecting to their side or simply renouncing their involvement in this any longer. We are the only two left.” His voice took on an oddly pleading tone, as if he was trying to get the older man to just give up. 

Tom snuck under the window and crept through the back door. Severus was keeping Albus talking, preventing him from hearing the door click open.

Harry stayed behind to watch through the window.

Tom managed to creep up behind Dumbledore, stopping just a few feet away.

“And you know how the boy was destined to be the one to have to kill him. I simply couldn’t tell him what he was, he would have started finding out how powerful he really is. Obviously that didn’t work, since he figured it out on his own anyway. I just cannot fathom why he just couldn’t die.”

“You know, I believe I used to say that exact thing when face to face with the man.” Dumbledore started and spun around in shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes at what he saw in front of him. 

Tom Riddle, looking like he did when he was in his late teens, was stood before him. He had his wand out, poised to strike should Dumbledore move. 

“It would seem, Albus, that you have underestimated your enemies yet again. But then again, one can’t expect an old dog to learn new tricks.”

It was then that he felt ropes snake their way around him, binding his arms to his sides. Severus walked to his side from behind, grabbing hold of the ropes. 

“And exactly what are you doing here, Tom?” Dumbledore was visibly having a hard time trying to stay calm and collected.

“Well, I’m here to protect Harry to put it bluntly. You see, I have come to care for him and I’m rather offended that you’d want him dead. Seems a bit of a waste to me.” 

“You’re supposed to be dead.” The last part was practically spit from the old man, disdain dripping from his voice. 

“And so are you.” Shadows engulfed the room as Harry walked in.


	14. Chapter 14

Fear engulfed the old man’s eyes as he realized who had walked in. 

“You, my friend, are supposed to be dead. You should have died during that fight with Grindelwald, you should have died when Tom rose to power the first time, you should have died the second time Tom rose to power and you should have died two weeks ago.” Severus and Tom turned off most of the blinding lights, only leaving a few on for more natural looking light. 

“Harry, I do think it’s high time Dumbledore gets to see just exactly what a shadow demon looks like when they’ve been betrayed by someone they trusted so completely.” Tom’s voice travelled through the room and sent shivers down Dumbledore’s back. 

Without saying anything, Harry walked until he was right in front of Dumbledore. He looked into the old man’s eyes. They had lost their twinkle so long ago, and now only held fear. For a brief moment, he saw a glimmer of hope in the blue eyes, but that quickly dissipated into nothing as he allowed his transformation to take over. 

His eyes changed first, followed by his hair and physique. True terror flashed in Dumbledore’s face before quickly being hidden behind a false layer of bravado. 

“My boy, don’t you realize I was only trying to help you?”

“By sending me off to my death? By lying to me, hiding the truth from me, and using me as nothing more than a pawn? Please, spare me. You didn’t try to help me, you tried to use me for your own gain. You wanted nothing but power and by killing me off, you would have obtained it immediately. And every single time I came out of encounters with Tom you would instill fear in me, tell me how close I came to death and then you would tell me over and over again that I needed to trust you because you were the only thing that could keep me alive. 

“If you were truly trying to help me, then you would have been honest with me from the start. When I asked what was wrong with me or why I was experiencing things no one else was, you did everything in your power to avoid me. You were using my own insecurities against me to make me think that I was going crazy and would just take your word for the truth.” He paused, letting venom drip from his voice. “But I digress. Had you done any of that I would have started looking into everything in the situation. Eventually I would have put two and two together enough to be suspicious of you. I would have put up a small barrier between myself and you and this war. I would have had an opportunity to do some extensive digging to figure out just what all of this meant. But instead, I had to fight for my life for YEARS, losing those I love most in the process. I had to fear for my life, under the impression that someone was after me when really I should have been worried I could have died from the creature inside of me.” He inhaled deeply, not sure how far he wanted to take this. When he talked again, his voice was much calmer, yet just as deadly.

“Did you know that shadow demons commonly die before they are twenty due to the vast amount of changes they go through in such a short amount of time? It’s because when you have all those hormones twisting up your instincts, you have no idea if someone could be a potential mate or if someone poses you a threat or if it’s just your hormones playing with your mind. And of course none of this is something you think about, it’s something you just feel. It wreaks havoc on your emotions and makes you start to think you’re not good enough, that you’re always going to have to rely on others when you should be the one holding everyone else up. Combine all that with a kid that has millions of people looking up to him to save them, and you’ve created a self-destructive teenager if I’ve ever heard of one. 

“The odds of Tom killing me were large, but the odds of me killing myself were so high that I am SHOCKED that I am standing here today. But that’s alright. Living this long has all been for one thing.” He leaned in, nose to nose with the old man that tried to have him die over and over again. “I’ve lived this long so I can personally oversee your death.” The shadows slowly started to swirl and move around him, rising from the ground in a long, thin pillar up to his hand. When they melted away, it left only Harry standing there with the sword of Gryffindor in his hand. He lifted it up, looked back at Dumbledore with his green eyes and said “Uvidimsya v adu, mudak.” He swung his arm down in one long arc, and sliced cleanly through Dumbledore’s neck.

Death was instantaneous, and the trio of men walked out of the building before setting it ablaze with fiendfyre. 

“Severus,” 

“Yes, my lord?” Severus’s voice was just as quiet as the demon’s. 

“Can I trust that he is truly gone?”

“I had done extensive research on the man whilst being loyal to him. I had inside knowledge of things that no one else knew. Some of which, I’m not even sure he knew. He talked in his sleep, and didn’t know how to look for my particular signature on dark magic. I did learn that he had one singular horcrux. And that, Harry, was the sword you just killed him with. You had completely destroyed the horcrux within it when you killed the basilisk and now you have ensured that what remains of him is destroyed in this fire. I truly believe that he is gone.”

“Good.” He took a deep breath, turned and vanished into the shadows to travel home.


	15. Chapter 15

Once he arrived back at the manor, Tom put on some tea for him and Severus. They settled into the library, quietly discussing the events of the last twenty-four hours. It wasn’t until Severus spoke up after a few moments of silence that the conversation went deeper than the surface.

“Forgive me, but you’re happier now than you used to be.”

“What are you on about Severus?”

“Well,” he sipped his tea for a moment before continuing. “You were so fueled by sadness for so long, that I truly believed that you had forgotten how to be happy. That maybe the reason you pushed us as hard as you did, due to your unhappiness and your general disregard for the emotions of those around you.” Tom took pause, reflecting on the past.

“I believe that you may be right. I didn’t see how I could let one man destroy the world and was bitter that I had given up my entire life to ensure that this man didn’t completely ruin the future of the Wizarding World. After I made the horcruxes to make sure I would live long enough to ensure that the world wouldn’t end, so to speak, I knew no one would have me due to my appearance alone. Not to mention the danger I had put the world in by starting these wars to begin with. It’s nice to see someone accept me as who I am and I am eternally grateful for the restoration of my body.”

They sipped their tea in comfortable silence, reflecting on where they were in their lives and how they had come to get there.

“Severus?” 

“Hm?” Severus looked up from his tea, curious as to what he would be asked.

“Be truthful. Do you think that I will ever have a chance at falling in love? Or am I so twisted by what I have done in the past that no one remotely good for me would dare to be near me? The truth, please.”

Severus hesitated, clearly anticipating saying the wrong thing. He cleared his throat before responding. 

“Well...I think that, with everything that has happened in the past...particularly with the way that the war was painted to the public’s eyes, most people probably wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with you. If not for fear for themselves and their families, then for fear of what the rest of society will say and do to them. Most have been relatively calm about the truth of what really happened, but there are still groups that are being very...vocal. I do not think it is unreasonable that someone could care for you romantically; however, your chances are most likely far slimmer than the average person.” Severus sipped at his tea to cover up his nervousness.

“I appreciate the honesty. I worry, though. Not for someone to love me, but is my heart twisted beyond caring for someone else that way?” Severus’s reply was quick this time. 

“You are capable of far more than you realize. Part of the reason you and Dumbledore were so evenly matched is because you are capable of the very thing he said you weren’t. He thought you weren’t capable of love. That you didn’t possess emotions beyond hate and anger. But I saw your face when you caught sight of me as I held Lily all those years ago. You regretted causing me pain. You didn’t want to kill her because you knew it would hurt me so deeply.” He paused, silently debating if he wanted to continue with his train of thought. “I’ve seen the way you look at, well someone, recently. You’re capable of loving someone. And I think that with a little time, someone could love you too.” With that, Severus put down his teacup and took his leave silently.

Tom sat there, thinking on what he was just told. Had Severus really noticed? He thought he had been more discreet than that. But Severus was notorious for his incredible observation skills. Perhaps no one else had noticed. 

Harry rounded the corner, face buried into a large book bound in practically ancient leather. Tom watched him cross the room, put the book on a rather tall shelf and run his fingers over the spines of the texts, looking for a different book to pull out. He pulled out a smaller, much newer looking book and turned around, heading towards the door. His hair was tangled and didn’t flow behind him the way it usually did. Tom quietly got up and followed him towards his section of the castle before watching him walk up to his private section of the mansion.

He sighed and went outside to the garden. The fountain water was practically dancing in the shade, the flowers bursting with fragrance. He plopped down on a bench. Suddenly, a small burst of sparkle started floating in front of his face, pulling him out of his own mind. It was one of the fairies, trying to get his attention. 

“What can I do for you?” The fairy blushed and landed on his outstretched hand to sit down.

“I can’t help but feel how melancholy your magic is. What’s the matter? Lover’s quarrel?”

“No, no nothing like that. More that, I’m not sure if I can love anyone. And especially with my past, if anyone could even love me.”

“You have good intentions. You’ve done terrible things to keep the world working in relative harmony because you didn’t want to see millions suffer at the hands of a madman. I think that’s quite admirable. And I know someone else on these grounds thinks so too.”

“You really think so? I’m afraid of opening up to anyone, of losing what I want most. It’s complicated.” Before he could continue, the fairy stood up on his hand.

“You’re afraid that he is only interested because of his instincts. That he only wants you because there is a shift happening in the world and his inner creature wants to procreate. This is untrue. Instincts are only physical. The relationship that he wishes to build, that’s emotional. That’s him truly wanting to give you two a shot. If it was just instincts then he would have had you already to ensure his line will continue and be done with it. My rosebush is feeling particularly lonely, so I will have to bid you adieu. Just know that he has confessed worry over you not wishing to be with him as well. Talking together may cause a better turn of events than you think it will.” The fairy took off towards a pink rosebush, leaving Tom with his thoughts.

Perhaps it would be beneficial for them to sit down and talk about their relationship. To focus on them a little, rather than just slipping in a kiss every once in a blue moon. Maybe if that were to happen, they could get to know each other more intimately. Maybe they could even fall in love.


	16. Chapter 16

Tom found himself sitting on the window seat in the library later that week, thinking about how he could even bring himself to talk to Harry about their situation. He was so lost in his own thoughts that when he heard Harry’s voice behind him, he jumped.

“Would you like to take a walk with me, Tom?” After he regained his composure, he took Harry’s hand and let him lead him out to the gardens. They leisurely strolled through the grass, hand in hand, neither one of them saying anything.

“I thought we needed a moment alone to talk about where we stand. I don’t want to pressure you, and I don’t want you to think that I’m only interested because of my instincts. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of reflection lately, and I worry that you think it’s to appease the demon side of me.”

Tom inhaled the sweet scent of vanilla and lilac, unwilling to say anything that would ruin the moment. “Yes, I am worried. I don’t want anyone to be with me because they don’t want to be, either with fear or instinct. I closed myself off to the idea of love and relationships long ago, for who could love such a twisted monster? I don’t wish to open myself back up to it, if it is only for the physical satisfaction on your end.” They stopped, pausing to admire the lush garden flowers.

“It isn’t just physical. From everything that I have read, it is physical for the need to reproduce but then if they live through the shift that caused the instincts to arise it always ends in amazing relationships. It’s possible that that’s made up, but I don’t believe that we would have the instinct to mate with just anybody. If that were the case, why would it only be with one person? Why wouldn’t it be with everyone that’s around us?” Tom nodded. It made sense, he was just afraid of being hurt.

“I just don’t want you to realize you could have done better.” At this, Harry roared with laughter. 

“I have done things worse than your nightmares. If anyone should be running away, it is you. You saw me grow up, so perhaps you are forgetting that I am a dark creature by nature.” Harry took a tentative step towards him, his expression softening. “I understand your fear of being left. I am also afraid that one day you will leave me. But isn’t that what it’s all about? Taking a leap of faith and trusting in your companion?” He gestured to the garden. “These plants cannot survive without the sun and rain. Too much or too little and they will perish. But they trust that the sun will give them the nourishment they need and that the rain will come to refresh them. They trust in the bees to pollinate and reproduce, and the bees trust in the flowers to give them enough pollen to create honey.”

Tom took a small step towards Harry, lifting his face so he could see it better. He lost himself in the swirl of the green eyes staring back and heard himself say “I am willing to trust if you are.” Harry’s face brightened as he smiled.

“I would very much like that.” They stayed that way, staring into each other’s eyes, until the sun started to descend and the air cooled a few degrees. They walked back to the manor, Harry leading them up to his private section. Tom was surprised when he didn’t get stuck in the stairs, but didn’t think too much of it. He was just curious as to where he was being led.

They arrived to Harry’s room, where a tray of wine and fruit were awaiting them. Harry smiled and grabbed the tray before leaving again and taking Tom to a living room where they sat down on the large plush couch.

“I thought some wine would be a good idea, to help us open up more to each other. I’ve never been one for drinking to break the ice, but somehow I feel that this would help us immensely.” Tom agreed and gladly took the glass that was offered him. 

They talked about superficial things that they had already touched on in the past until the wine kicked in, which didn’t take a terribly long time. Tom went to pour themselves more wine, while asking Harry about his previous love life.

“Pfft, honestly it wasn’t great. I had a horrendous snog and that was it. I wasn’t really interested in anyone around me at the time. But the kisses I’ve had from you? Better than this wine.” He took a large gulp and set his glass down before he spilled it all over.

“Really? The Great Harry Potter hasn’t had more than that? Well, that’s a damn shame! You’re missing out young man, there are some things one should not be missing.” 

“Oh yeah? Exactly what have I been missing? How could a romp be that good that it’s automatically something everyone needs?” Suddenly Tom’s eyes turned serious.

“There’s more than just sex you dolt! The whole realm of touching and physical contact can be so satisfying that no one should miss out on that.”

“Well, like what? I’m a bit of a prude it seems.” Tom snorted. 

“Haven’t you ever imagined someone putting their hand down your pants while you’re half asleep, or someone biting your neck and moaning your name in your ear? And you can’t tell me you haven’t imagined someone pulling on those locks of silk attached to your head.” Harry’s pupils had dilated some at the things Tom was saying. 

“I guess I’ve imagined someone moaning my name, but not much more. There’s always been more important things to be worried about.” They started giggling again as they finished their glasses and went to open another bottle of wine. They just kept appearing, and so they kept drinking.

Tom went to stand and fell back against the couch again. Harry, who had watched the whole ordeal, laughed until he realized that Tom was crawling over to him on the couch. They had been a full cushion apart and now Tom was practically in his lap. 

“Harry, you can’t tell me you’ve only imagined someone moaning your name. At the very least, that’s had to have happened in real life at least once.” Harry shook his head.

“Nope, not even once. Just in my head.” 

“That, my friend, is something you simply cannot live any longer without experiencing.” He managed to straddle Harry’s lap before he could protest and leaned in to Harry’s ear. When Harry realized what was happening, his breath caught.

“Harry,” a very light grazing of teeth passed over his earlobe. “Oh Harry…” Harry groaned deep in his throat.

“Damn it all Tom, why must you be right? I’m never going to stop being surprised with you.” They both started giggling again, while Harry’s hands settles on Tom’s hips.

“Didn’t you hear? I’m always right!”

“Oh yeah? If you’re always right Mr. Smarty Pants, then predict something that will happen tonight.” Harry’s face screamed triumph, as it was borderline impossible for someone to predict the future while completely drunk.

“I predict that one day I’m going to get into those pants of yours and show you the time of your life. Oh wait, you said tonight. I’m not good at drunk sex, no one is. Well, you’ve got me stumped Mr. Potter. The only thing I can predict is that you will fall asleep with me in the same bed.” Harry laughed.

“What, so you can claim we ‘slept together’ when we got drunk?” Harry giggled at the thought.

Tom leaned in once more, scooting his bum farther up the demon’s lap. He let his tongue drag from his clavicle to just under his ear before lightly biting on Harry’s ear. The laughter died and was quickly replaced with moaning before the hands around Tom’s waist tightened.

“Tom, what is it that you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“To me, I mean. I mean, I’ve read about sex and all that before but it was mostly to learn what would hurt people not what made them feel good.”

“Well describe it. What are you feeling?” His voice was soft, tickling Harry’s ear as he whispered to him.

“Everywhere you touch burns, your voice makes me shiver and I’m going to have to clean up a mess if you keep moving your hips like that. I’m dizzy, but not from the wine and all I want is more but I don’t want the tingly butterfly-ish feeling to go away.” Tom pulled out two very small vials from his breast pocket. They were the size of fingernails and filled with bright indigo liquid.

“Severus was kind enough to give me some of his sobriety potion. Each one will bring us back to tipsy rather than drunk. I’m not doing anything else until we both can remember what happens.” Harry reached for it, and drank the liquid in one fluid motion. 

“I like that we’ll still be inebriated enough for us to not think. People tell me I think too much.” Tom leaned in after taking his potion, laughing. 

“That’s because you DO think too much!” He grabbed Harry’s hands and took him to Harry’s room where they laid down.

“Oh, I never realized how comfortable my bed is before. This is the life right here. Nothing could make this better.” He put his hands behind his head.

“Oh yeah? Would me doing this make it better?” Tom unbuttoned a few buttons on Harry’s shirt, exposing the top of his chest. The demon moaned as Tom’s fingers skimmed across his lean chest. An icy hot trail followed everywhere he touched.

“Tom?” The fingers stopped in their tracks.

“Yes?”

“What do I do?” He laughed at the ridiculousness of his question. “I mean...well I’m sure you know what I mean.” Tom smiled, knowing how nervous the other must be. He was in a territory that he had never been in, and Tom was clearly the one with more experience.

“Just relax and enjoy the sensations. If you want me to stop, just say so. I won’t do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” Harry nodded, worry tinging his eyes. “There is no right or wrong reactions. If you want, I also have a potion Severus concocted that will take away your inhibitions without the effects of being drunk if you think you’d be less nervous about your reactions.” Harry nodded, having sobered up almost completely by then. He took the offered vial, and they drank them quickly. It wasn’t long before Harry was saying every thought he had aloud. 

“Tom, why aren’t you doing anything? You haven’t so much as moved a muscle since we took that potion. I want to feel you touch me. I want to know what the almighty Tom thinks I need to experience.”

Tom smiled, touched that Harry seemed to trust him so completely. He straddled the man and leaned on his shoulders so he was being pressed firmly into the pillows. “Of course, Harry.” He leaned in to whisper in his ear again. “Anything for you, Harry.” He kissed his way down the long neck, relishing in the noises that were coming from the very same neck. He stopped to take a nibble in the crook between Harry’s neck and shoulder and bit harder when Harry encouraged him. 

After he was satisfied that a large love bite would be present by the end of the night, he moved on to the demon’s chest. Smaller love bites were scattered in his wake, until Harry finally started to beg.

“Tom, please. Whatever you’re going to do, just do it. I want to know exactly what I’ve been missing all these years.” With no other prompting, Tom gently grazed his teeth over Harry’s nipple. Harry’s entire body shook, his skin flushing. 

He let a hand travel over his body, his fingers deftly undoing the rest of his buttons before he dragged his nails over Harry’s skin. He reached for Harry’s hip, letting his fingers delve just below his waistband.


	17. Chapter 17

The whimper that escaped Harry’s lips was heaven to Tom’s ears. He couldn’t wait to see just how many different noises he could get him to make like that. The sweet harmony of Viper’s voice washed over Tom like an aphrodisiac. 

“How are you so damned good at this?” The demon panted, unable to catch his breath properly. 

“I admit, I’m not the most well versed in the bedroom, but I do read plenty of books. Quite a few were about the art of sex and lovemaking.” With that, he pulled Viper’s trousers off of his legs, leaving him in only silk boxers the color of sapphires. “Beautiful,” his voice was barely a whisper against his skin, tantalizing him before licking across his hip. His tongue just barely slipped under the band of silk, and ripped a guttural moan from the man underneath of him.

“Fuck, Tom…” Viper’s voice trailed off, letting the gentle hisses hang in the air for a moment. The sudden Parseltongue caught Tom off guard. He didn’t expect someone to be able to speak the language of snakes, let alone that it would come from the demon he was straddling in bed. He heard himself groan.

“Yes, my demon?” It seemed that he was too far gone in bliss to be able to respond coherently in any language. He was hissing nonsense, mixed with the start of several profanities in English. As Tom dragged his hands down his chest, leaving some small scratches along the way, the demon started to lose control over what form he was in. One moment he was Viper, then he was Harry. Eventually he started to settle as Viper as he gained control over himself. 

Viper couldn’t help it. He knew he wasn’t speaking any real language at the moment, and yet Tom was responding to is as if he knew what he was trying to say. The delicious feeling of having his burning skin cooled by the sharp bite of nails was a perfect torture. Tom’s tongue was pure agony as it danced to a song of pleasure around his hips, dipping in and out of silk. 

Somehow he managed to open his eyes to watch the beautiful display above him. Tom smiled every time he groaned and his eyes clouded over every time a hiss left Viper’s mouth. He arched his back, being sure to look in Tom’s eyes before hissing at him.

“Tom, please. You’re torturing me, your touch satisfies me and leaves me craving more. I don’t think I’ll survive the night at this rate. Your kisses are so addicting…” He was forced to stop talking, as suddenly his mouth was covered with Tom’s beautiful lips. The kiss spoke of tenderness and happiness. Soon enough, their tongues were dancing with each other. It wasn’t a battle for dominance, as Viper gladly gave in to him. He wrapped his hands into Tom’s hair, eliciting noises from his partner that he never thought he could produce. He pulled Tom’s head down so he could whisper into his ear.

“Tom, you’re kisses are clouding my mind. The sobriety potion cannot help me now, as your touch is making me drunk with pleasure. Tell me, Tom, did you ever think you’d have me at your mercy in bed? Because you do. Take me Tom, show me what it’s like to be filled with you. To surround you with my warmth. Please…” 

Tom gripped his shoulders tightly, no doubt trying to not release prematurely. He traveled down Viper’s body again, nipping and kissing random places as he went. This time, the boxers were tossed to the floor and Tom wasted no time in swallowing Viper’s member. It was relatively difficult, as he never really got the hang of taming his gag reflex. Nonetheless, it seemed that Viper liked it that way. The less he could contain the reflex, the more the other bucked his hips. 

While he had the Parselmouth preoccupied, he had cast a wandless lubrication spell and quickly inserted a finger before Viper knew what had happened. Tom basked in the sweet noises Viper was making, particularly when he added another finger as he sucked on the cock in his mouth. 

He locked eyes with the demon.

“Well, are you going to come in my mouth or are you going to tease me with your hisses more?” He went back to blowing Viper, feeling victorious as his fingers rubbed over his prostate. It sent him over the edge quite violently, and Viper’s seed spilled down his throat. 

It only took a minute before Viper was hard again. One of the many quirks of being a shadow demon, no doubt. Tom gently stretched his hole as Viper hissed all the naughty things he wanted to do to him. Being tied up in such an intricate manner peaked his interest and he catalogued that idea away in his mind for another day. 

“Tom,” he hissed, waiting for the other to meet his eyes. “Fuck me already, please.” He tossed his head back at all the sensations and arched his back. “Please Tom, make me yours.” Tom happily obliged.

The sensation of having Tom enter him was incredible. It burned, but in an oh-so-tantalizing way. He didn’t want the sensation to end. He wanted to fall into this abyss of pleasure forever, the consequences be damned. Tom stilled, trying to let him adjust. He wasn’t having any of it.

With a groan and a whisper of obscenities, he bucked his hips up into Tom forcing his cock deeper into him. The feeling of fullness was incredible, and he craved more. The pain was slight after a moment, and quickly turned into that delicious combination of pain so good it was pleasure. He lifted his legs onto Tom’s shoulders, with the hopes of getting that lovely member so much deeper.

“God Tom, just fuck me into the bed already. Make me forget my name, make me burst with how full you can make me. Please, my dark lord, fuck me hard.” It was apparent that Tom had a hard time not coming right then and there at the change of position and the hissing that came from his lover’s mouth. 

Once he regained his composure, Tom happily obliged. It was a battle of dominance, Tom thrusting into the demon with purpose. Faster, then slow and tantalizing to make him beg for more. Barely keeping the tip of himself inside, to then slam it back in with such force that it would take Viper’s breath away.

Viper used every ounce of strength he had to lift himself up to meet each and every thrust Tom was giving him. How had he lived without this for so long? Or was this because of Tom himself? Was it because of his instinct to mate? Was it their chemistry? Whatever the case, he was grateful for it. Running his nails over toned biceps he hissed to the man above him that he was going to come soon.

“Yes, me too. Come with me Viper, please. Jump over the precipice with me.” They came, the demon’s seed coating their stomachs while Tom’s coated the inside of his arse. Tom collapsed, suddenly drained and exhausted. He took care to lay off to the side, holding Viper close to him. They lay there, catching their breath for awhile.

“Tom?” Viper’s voice was cautious. 

“Yes?”

“Thank you. I think this has been one of the best nights of my life.” He yawned and without further adieu, he fell asleep on Tom’s chest.

When Viper woke up the next morning, he stretched. His muscles ached in a wonderfully delicious way. Groaning, he realized that his bottom hurt more than the rest of him, but it also felt so much better than the rest of him at the same time. It was an interesting feeling. It wasn’t long before he realized that Tom was watching him with soft eyes.

“Morning dear,” Viper’s voice was scratchy with sleep. He hadn’t even noticed the term of endearment leave his lips, but when he did a blush graced his cheeks. “I...I mean if you want to be, of course.” Tom ran his fingers through his hair.

“I would like that very much.” He gently grazed his cheek, fingertips blazing a trail of pink behind them before he pulled Viper up for a gentle kiss. “Are you hurt?” Viper smiled.

“Yes, in all the right ways. I will admit, I didn’t think I would feel this...empty afterwards. But it was worth it.” He smiled, relaxing into the other’s arms once more. 

They lay in comfortable silence while the day brightened. Viper thought a lot to himself during this time, contemplating if he wanted to break the silence to discuss the harsh world outside each other’s arms. In the end, he didn’t have to ask.

“Listen Viper, I still have questions about all of this. I still do not know if I can afford to be emotionally invested, for the safety of my own heart. I do not wish to have it broken, I have heard how it pains others. I have felt through others how it makes you ache and I do not wish to experience that. I am unsure if your attraction to me is remotely emotional. And, for that matter, would you even be interested in pursuing a relationship with me and what you would prefer me to call you. I am so used to calling you Harry, but now I simply call you My Lord when others are near. I do not wish to make you upset by calling you Harry, but somehow you’ve always been Harry to me. Even in my head when I was trying to kill you, you’ve always been Harry to me.” He pondered this, not realizing there was still so much they had to discuss about their relationship.

“Well, you’ve always been Tom to me so I suppose there is no harm in you calling me Harry. Only you are allowed to do so, though. I have been thinking a lot about you in the time you have been with me here and I have grown to realize that you do hold an emotional attraction to me. Perhaps even more emotional than physical. Your thoughts captivate me when you voice them and you have a rather brilliant mind that, despite the rumors, is completely capable of good ideas. You’ve been misguided in life before, letting your emotions get the better of you. I do not wish to break your heart. Breaking your heart would break my own in turn. I do wish for you to be willing to try being with me, but it will take trust on both of our parts for it to work. We have differences, you and I. There are entire books written of our differences. But I wish to seek the common ground with you. I want to try to understand why we have our differences. Very few are able to keep up with me in conversation, dueling, banter, knowledge...passion.” As the Parseltongue slipped through his lips, the other shivered just slightly.

“I want someone who is able to and wants to match me in everything I do. I wish to have someone who can conquer me on occasion. And I believe that you are everything I am looking for if only you’ll have me.”

The faint hint of tears glimmered in Tom’s eyes. He wasn’t much for the sappy things in life, but this was the first time someone was telling him that they wanted someone like him and listed the good things. He wasn’t sure anyone would ever realize he wasn’t all bad.

“Alright Harry, I believe I would also enjoy giving this a whirl. Especially after finding out just how receptive you can be to the physical aspect of us, I am eager to find out what else you have in store for me.”


	18. Chapter 18

After a hearty breakfast and many stolen kisses, Tom decided he needed to have a chat with some of his followers that had made it far in the political world. They were to secure the Ministry, ensuring that they won positions of higher power to make sure that they could change the laws to work in their favor. 

In order to avoid mass panic, they decided that the minister would be the one to announce the tragic passing of Albus Dumbledore, an extraordinarily wreckless man who gave his life to save Harry Potter from Voldemort. The two had killed each other during a relatively intense battle, leaving Harry the only one to escape. Their ploy was that he had left the battle dazed, and spent some time travelling around Albania to clear his mind before he had to break the news to the Wizarding World. Albania is where he met Tom, a wonderful conversationalist who had managed to capture the hero’s heart. Once Tom’s meeting was over depicting what story was to be told to the world, they settled down in the library with Tom in Harry’s lap.

Harry was tracing small winding paths up and down Tom’s back, using the quiet time to think about the events of the day. Soon enough, the Wizarding World would be practically knocking down his door to demand his attention once more. He knew he could not stow himself away from the attention, but it was a relief that he would no longer be under the intense pressure to kill someone he no longer wished to kill. He wouldn’t be expected to follow an old man’s idiotic plans and he could finally move towards making the world a better place for future generations.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt it. Another mind probing against his, except it was already inside his mind. The link between the two was humming, exploring his deepest thoughts and feelings without any actual direction. Harry stood, guiding Tom up with him, before letting the shadows transport them to the middle of his garden.

Soft music was already playing, the soft notes of a piano enhancing their surroundings. At some point, the sun had gone down and left only the flowers with their fragrances, the music and soft glowing specks of light in the flora wonderland. The fountain was dimly lit, allowing purple-hued water to sparkle from one spot to the next. 

They danced, arms wrapped around each other, as they stared into each other’s souls. They hardly knew that the fairies had left them in privacy, that the music had continued after each song came to a soft close. They could only see each other.

Finally, Harry found the part of him that was linked to Tom. He brushed against it softly as they spun, the distraction allowing him access to Tom’s mind. He didn’t look for anything, simply filled his head with his love and trust. Tom gasped, feeling the sudden change in his mind.

“Harry, what-” He was quickly silenced by soft lips pressing against his.

“I told you it wasn’t just my instincts. I’ve been searching for a way to prove that to you for awhile.” Their feet slowed, the dancing coming to a stop. “Tom, would you let me show you what I believe our love can grow to if you’ll only take a step of faith in us?” Tom nodded, slowly. He was unsure what he would see, or what he would even feel after this. He wasn’t used to other people being in his head.

Suddenly, pictures and images started playing in his mind.

Blackness surrounding him, encompassing him as Harry was sucking him off...shared smiles in political meetings...them out to dinner as themselves, on a romantic date...heated kisses in the shadows of London where anyone could catch them at any time…

Purple and Green swirling trails of magic, surrounding them as they declared their love for each other...the feeling of falling, and having no worries about the other letting them hit the ground…

A large cottage, out in the woods. Their own private getaway with beautiful cobblestone pathways and lush plants growing everywhere and the sound of a creek bubbling happily somewhere behind it...the wonderful image of seeing Harry, smiling at Tom, in a library chair with a rather large stomach…

The Wizarding World cooperating for once...peace settling in their world for good…

Tom opened his eyes, gasping for air. The wonderful images in his mind were too much for him to handle all at once. 

“Tom? Tell me what you’re thinking. How do you feel?” Tom smiled.

“Brilliant. I...world peace is long overdue. Being able to go with you, wherever we want for whatever reason, I like that. The cottage, where would we even find such a magical place?” His voice trailed off as his eyes clouded over while he thought. Without thinking, his hands made their way across Harry’s stomach. “The feeling of falling in love, what an exhilarating emotion! I thought I had merely imagined that last night, but it seemed to go on forever just then. The magic around us, how it bound us together so permanently. So perfectly.” Tears welled in his eyes, sparkling in the light from the fountain.

“Is that really what you see for us? All of it?” 

Harry chuckled, placing his hands over Tom’s. “Yes, you silly creature. I believe that all of that is attainable and well within reach. If only you will allow yourself to trust me, to trust us. We have already taken the first steps today, why should we wait on the rest?” Tom nodded, and they kissed. Slowly at first, but growing with the need to be closer. To be one once more.

Tom dragged Harry down, pulling him on top of him. Their night of passion in the garden was one they would never forget, filled with passion, love and trails of purple and green magic glittering in the subtle moonlight.


End file.
